United States Vice President JD Vance has issued a blunt rebuke to those who have targeted his wife, Usha Vance, with racial slurs, saying such attacks are unacceptable and have no place in public life. Speaking in an interview with UnHerd, Vance said he stood firmly against “all forms of ethnic hatred,” regardless of who the offender might be.
Addressing remarks made by far-right podcaster Nick Fuentes and former White House press secretary Jen Psaki, Vance left little room for ambiguity. “Let me be clear,” he said. “Anyone who attacks my wife, whether their name is Jen Psaki or Nick Fuentes, can eat sh*t.” He added that this stance was his “official policy” as vice president of the United States.
Racist slurs spark backlash across party lines
Fuentes has previously made repeated racist comments about Usha Vance and the couple’s children, referencing their Indian heritage, according to ABC News. His latest use of a racial slur to describe the second lady triggered condemnation from several Republicans, including former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
Speaking at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest, Ramaswamy, now a gubernatorial candidate in Ohio, denounced the attack in stark terms. “If you call Usha Vance, the second lady of the United States of America, a ‘je*t,’ you have no place in the future of the conservative movement,” he said, drawing applause from the audience.
‘No place in the conservative movement’
Vance also sought to downplay Fuentes’ standing within right-wing politics, arguing that his influence has been exaggerated. “I think that Nick Fuentes, his influence within Donald Trump’s administration, and within a whole host of institutions on the Right, is vastly overstated,” Vance told UnHerd.
He suggested that the amplification of Fuentes’ role was deliberate, claiming it was driven by “people who want to avoid having a foreign-policy conversation about America’s relationship with Israel.” The vice president did not elaborate further on that assertion.
During the interview, Vance reiterated his opposition to antisemitism and racial prejudice more broadly. “Antisemitism, and all forms of ethnic hatred, have no place in the conservative movement,” he said. He described attacks based on race or religion as “disgusting,” adding that targeting someone for being white, Black or Jewish was equally unacceptable.
Vance has previously drawn attention for comments about religion and family, particularly his remarks expressing hope that his Hindu wife might one day embrace Christianity. “Do I hope eventually that she is somehow moved by the same thing that I was moved in by church? Yeah, I honestly do with that,” he had said. He later clarified that Usha had no plans to convert, stressing that he would “continue to love and support her and talk to her about faith and life and everything else.”
