Who is Usha Vance, the wife of the Republican vice presidential candidate?

2024-08-11 20:02:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Who is Usha Vance, the wife of the Republican vice presidential candidate?

Republican candidate Donald Trump

Republican nominee Donald Trump last month announced the selection of Ohio Senator JD Vance as the Republican nominee for vice president. Senator Vance graduated from law school at Yale University, where he met his wife, Usha. As Voice of America correspondent Dora McCourt reports, she is the daughter of immigrants from India, who recently left her job at one of the well-known law firms in Washington and California.

Thirty-eight-year-old Usha Vance captured the public's attention during the introduction of her husband, JD Vance, as a candidate for vice president at the Republican National Convention.

"I met JD in law school shortly after he graduated from Ohio State University," she said.

The daughter of Indian immigrants, Usha Chilukuri was born in California and raised in the traditions of the Hindu religion. She and JD Vance were married in an interfaith ceremony in 2014.

"I grew up in San Diego in a middle-class community, with two loving parents, both immigrants from India," she said.

Usha Vance's parents are academics. Her aunt, a physics professor in India, is proud of lawyer Usha Vance's achievements.

"I am very proud of this, because such a great intellectual has been raised from my family," she says.

In the biography of the law office where Usha Vance worked, it is stated that she was engaged in a study on media freedom at Yale University. She also worked on a project on aid for Iraqi refugees. Usha Vance interned in the office of Chief Justice John Roberts and in the office of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh when he was on the Court of Appeals.

Anita McBride, who was first lady Laura Bush's chief of staff, says people who know attorney Usha Vance speak highly of her.

"Very intelligent, good colleague, got along with everyone and is just a hard worker and a nice person. This is positive for people holding public office. I think it says something about their character, that they are liked by people," she says.

Attorney Usha Vance's status as a daughter of immigrant parents may help voters from marginalized groups see her husband in a new light.

"He adapted to my vegetarian diet and learned how to cook Indian food for my mother," she says.

"It serves as an example of validating his values ??and wanting to help communities that might not think JD Vance understands or would support them," says Kelly Dittmar of Rutgers University.

What can the mother of three expect now that she is in the spotlight?

"Ancestry, heritage, level of education and the work a public figure has done are now topics that are talked about more openly and critically," says Anita McBride of American University.

JD Vance says his wife is "not a very political person." After the selection of her husband as a candidate for vice president by Mr. Trump, she resigned from her law firm and has now started participating in electoral activities./ VOA