What JD Vance's Bond With His Wife Usha Is Really Like, According To Their Former Classmates

Many strange details of J.D. Vance and his wife's marriage surfaced after he became Donald Trump's nominee for vice president, but former classmates at Yale Law School paint a wholesome picture of the ascendent power couple. Speaking to USA Today, James Eimers shed some light on what may have drawn J.D. to Usha, emphasizing her caring nature and saying that despite a busy academic schedule, she had a "keen awareness of the happenings in the personal lives of her friends." J.D. himself seemed to echo the classmate's glowing appraisal of Usha in his memoir "Hillbilly Elegy" when he recounted the first time he met her. "She seemed some sort of genetic anomaly, a combination of every positive quality a human being should have: bright, hardworking, tall, and beautiful," he wrote. In the end, Charles Tyler, another former classmate, was not shocked that they became a couple.

The pair's bond seems to have only grown stronger since their law school days, with Usha becoming an important advisor for her husband. Speaking to USA Today, family friend and political consultant Jai Chabria spoke about her role in his political career. "When he goes out and makes a great speech, she advises him and, and gives him her opinion, and it's taken seriously," he said. But while speaking to The New York Times, former law school friend Sofia Nelson said that J.D. has changed to advance his political aspirations. As for whether Usha shares her husband's support of Trump (even if he was once a "never Trump Guy"), Chabria said "there is no daylight between the two of them on the politics of the day." Which is a finely crafted way to say yes, he believes J.D. and Usha see eye to eye on Trump.

J.D. Vance and Usha's relationship has already experienced a number of stress tests, which fueled rumors of an impending divorce. In 2021, J.D. created a phrase that went on to become co-opted by the likes of Taylor Swift. "We're effectively run in this country via the Democrats ... by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they've made," he told Fox News. The ensuing backlash resulted in Usha appearing back on Fox News to do damage control, reframing the comment as a reference to the difficulties of being a parent in America. "Let's try and look at the real conversation he's trying to have ... What can we do to make it easier to live in 2024," she said.

They've also received attention for being a biracial couple, with J.D. being white and Usha being of Indian heritage. "When J.D. met me, he approached our differences with curiosity and enthusiasm," Usha said at the Republican National Convention. "He wanted to know everything about me, where I came from, what my life had been like." But that curiosity has come under scrutiny, with J.D. being accused of poorly defending Usha against racist remarks. 

In response to Donald Trump sitting down with white nationalist Nick Fuentes, who implied that it was improper for Vance to have a non-white wife, J.D. defended the former president. "The one thing I like about Donald Trump is he actually will talk to anybody, but just because you talk to somebody doesn't mean you endorse their views," he said during an ABC News interview. He later backtracked the both-sides answer by saying, "If they want to attack me, or attack my views, my policy views, my personality, come after me, but don't attack my wife — she's out of your league."