US V-P J.D. Vance says he hopes his wife embraces Christianity, setting off backlash

WASHINGTON – US Vice-President J.D. Vance provoked a broad backlash this week after he said he hoped his wife Usha Vance, who is of Indian heritage
and was raised in a Hindu family, would eventually convert to his own Catholic faith.

“Do I hope eventually that she is somehow moved by the same thing that I was moved by in church?” he said during an event at the University of Mississippi on Oct 29, in response to a question from the audience. “Yeah, I honestly do wish that because I believe in the Christian Gospel, and I hope eventually my wife comes to see it the same way.”

The comments, made in front of thousands of students as part of a Turning Point USA event honouring slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk,
were widely reported by news media outlets and quickly criticised on social media.

Beyond partisan salvos, there was also criticism from some Indians and Indian Americans across the political spectrum, who said that Mr Vance was not respecting his wife’s religious decisions. Some also said his remarks suggested that Hinduism was inferior at a time when aggressive immigration enforcement has left many South Asian Americans and people of non-Christian faiths feeling uncertain and afraid of their place in American society.

The backlash reflected worries by some in the South Asian community over the Trump administration’s immigration policies and its embrace of conservative Christian groups.

Ms Suhag Shukla, executive director of the Hindu American Foundation, described Mr Vance’s remarks as “basically saying that my wife, this aspect of her is just not enough”.

Mrs Vance has not responded publicly to her husband’s comments or the backlash. But on Oct 31, Mr Vance responded to the upswell of criticism. In a reply to a commenter on social media platform X who accused him of throwing his wife’s religion “under the bus”, the Vice-President called the message “disgusting” and full of “anti-Christian bigotry”.

He also called his wife the “most amazing blessing” in his life, noting that he had also said that at the Turning Point event. He said she had encouraged him to re-engage with his faith and that while he still wished that she would convert, he would “continue to love and support her” regardless. NYTIMES