Usha Vance expressed “revulsion” at former president Donald Trump and found the Jan. 6 insurrection “deeply disturbing,” her one-time friends have revealed.
The potential second lady’s alleged distaste for her husband’s running mate began when Trump was elected in 2016 and was especially clear after Trump’s supporters attacked the Capitol in a bid to overturn his defeat, the Washington Post reported.
“Usha found the incursion on the Capitol and Trump’s role in it to be deeply disturbing,” the friend recalled. “She was generally appalled by Trump, from the moment of his first election.”
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Usha Vance has been at the center of speculation about her political beliefs, having been a registered Democrat in the past but voting in Republican primaries in Ohio, where she now lives with her husband. The Post reported that since attending Yale Law School, where she met her husband, the attorney has been tight-lipped with her political beliefs.
But following her husband’s ascension to the near-top of the Republican party, those close to Vance have revealed her former views.
Friends described seeing Vance sitting with Trump and speaking at the Republican National Convention as “surreal,” watching the first generation Indian-American attorney address a predominantly white crowd as her husband became the GOP vice presidential pick.
At the RNC, Usha Vance found herself on stage with a man she had told her friends she was revolted by, they have disclosed to the Washington Post.
Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters“Was I surprised to see her there to support a man who seems to be building political power by punching down at trans folks and immigrants? Yeah, that part caught me off guard,” a Yale classmate of hers told the Washington Post.
Vance’s change in tone regarding the former president reflects that of her spouse, who once compared Trump to “Hitler.” Prior to her husband appearing on a Republican ticket in 2022, she registered to vote as a Democrat at least twice and was registered with the party until 2014.
And while she worked for two conservative judges, her husband said Vance had “no ideological chops” after she interviewed with Justice Elena Kagan, a Democratic appointee and the late Antonin Scalia, a conservative icon.
Vance instead took a job working for Chief Justice John Roberts, before entering private practice.
In a statement provided by Vance’s campaign, Jai Chabria, a strategist for his Ohio Senate campaign and a “longtime family friend,” said, “As has been well documented, JD became a supporter of President Trump over time. Usha has had a similar shift in views and fully supports Donald Trump and her husband and will do whatever she can to ensure their victory this November.”
