Usha Vance dishes on her new life in the spotlight... and why she won't go MAGA blonde
Usha Vance broke her silence about her new life as Second Lady of the United States, revealing what it was like to be part of the MAGA political uprising to re-elect Donald Trump.
'Obviously, our lives are not normal, and it feels almost absurd to say that they are,' she said in an interview with The Free Press writer Peter Savodnik.
Savodnik questioned her about the new MAGA world she had joined, where the majority of women are blonde, with 'low-cut blouses and nine-inch heels.'
'People don't seem to care all that much what I look like,' Usha replied laughing.
'I'm laughing, because it would be really hard for me to be blonde ... that color would look totally absurd.'
After the Inauguration the internet buzzed over Usha Vance's hair, noting she was allowing it to go grey.
But she said she felt welcome in Trump's political revolution.
'For what it's worth, my reception into this world — and I'm not from a particularly wealthy background, not from a very fashion-oriented background personally or professionally — has been really positive,' she said. 'People don't seem to care all that much what I look like.'
Second lady Usha Vance holds her daughter Mirabel
U.S. Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance arrive to board Air Force Two
The second lady spoke to Savodnik at her new home at the vice president's residence and reflected on the night she and her husband JD Vance went to a concert at the Kennedy Center where they were booed by people in the audience.
'It was about 20 or 30 seconds of some people booing and delaying the start of the concert, right as the conductor is about to come out, and there were a few other people clapping,' she recalled.
She dismissed the impact of the vocal protesters at the concert, noting it was brief.
'J.D. waved at them, and then we enjoyed the show that we had come for,' Usha said.
She also reflected on how her family's life changed after President Donald Trump selected her husband as his running mate.
'The day before JD was selected — I did not know he was going to be selected — I was working as a lawyer, and I had the wardrobe of a person with three children who likes to do things outdoors, who has a dog, who doesn't like things to be too precious,' she added.
One thing that hasn't changed is that she remains the vice president's close confidant and advisor, even though she downplayed her influence.
'I don't know that he's asking me for advice so much as, it can be a very lonely, lonely world not to share with someone,' she said.
She admitted the difficulty of having her and her husband's life scrutinized by the media in a simplistic way.
'It's a very strange life that we lead, where there are lots of people who have just imagined all sorts of narratives about us and what we think and what we do and why we do it and how much planning goes into it and all these sorts of things.'
Vice President-elect JD Vance and his wife, Usha Vance
Usha Vance attends a campaign rally
Usha Vance has traveled with JD Vance on various political trips, as she and the family went to Europe for her husband's speech at the Munich Security Summit and to Bay City, Michigan for an event on restoring American manufacturing.
Usha and JD also traveled together for a historic trip to Greenland, as the parka clad couple visited the U.S. Pituffik Space Base.
She criticized the current political climate, noting it was the product of technology, screens, and social media.
'Very, very intelligent people say things that are sometimes very, very ill-founded because we are now in this world in which all conversations happen based on limited information very quickly, without the kind of reflection that might have been possible before,' Usha said.
She expressed a dissatisfaction with the political climate, urging people to step back and reflect before reacting instantly to voice their opposition.
US Vice President JD Vance joined by his wife Usha Vance, speaks at Vantage Plastics in Bay City, Michigan
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff pose for a photo along with U.S. Vice President-elect JD Vance and his wife Usha Vance at the White House on inauguration day
'It's really easy to caricature your enemy,' she said, 'and I think there are plenty of people who do that on the right as well.'
Usha also shared her and JD's concerns about taking care of their children within their new lifestyle.
'There is nothing that he cares more about than how his children grow up and how he relates to them and how we live together as a family. And he is very, very, very concerned, as we both are and I think maybe anyone in our position would be, about how this life impacts them,' she said.
Her goal, she repeated, was to try and live a normal life for her family.
'To me, the highest priority right now is to be actually a normal person,' she said.
