JD Vance responds to viral photo of him ‘having an argument’ with his wife
JD Vance has hit back at critics after a viral photo purported to show him fighting with his wife in a restaurant.
US vice president JD Vance has hit back at a viral photo purporting to show him fighting with his wife in a restaurant, sharing a tongue-in-cheek response on social media.
In the photo, Mr Vance – who has found himself at the centre of divorce rumours in recent weeks – is pictured with a stern expression on his face as he sits across from his wife, who looks down at the table in a restaurant.
“Looks like things are not so good in Republicanistan,” a Facebook user by the name of Thomas Clay Jr wrote alongside the picture.
“Usha is a liberal. Always has been. Apparently they were having an argument loud enough to quiet the restaurant. Why is he wearing a tee shirt?”
Responding to the speculation, Mr Vance reshared the photo on X, making fun of the post.
“I always wear an undershirt when I go out in public to have a fight loudly with my wife,” he wrote sarcastically.
Rumours that the Vice President and Second Lady, who have been married since 2014 and share three children, were separating first began swirling after Mr Vance was pictured hugging the widow of late right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, Erika, at a Turning Point USA event in October.
Adding to the speculation, Mr Vance told university students at the event that he hoped his wife, who was raised Hindu, would be “moved” by the Catholic Church.
“Now, most Sundays, Usha will come with me to church. As I’ve told her, and as I’ve said publicly, and as I’ll say now in front of 10,000 of my closest friends – do I hope, eventually, that she is somehow moved by the same thing that I was moved by in church? 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,” he said.
“But if she doesn’t, then God says everybody has free will, and so that doesn’t cause a problem for me. That’s something you work out with your friends, with your family, with the person that you love.”
He later clarified his stance on his wife’s faith when he responded to a now deleted post on X days later.
“My Christian faith tells me the Gospel is true and is good for human beings,” he wrote at the time.
“My wife – as I said at the TPUSA – is the most amazing blessing I have in my life. She herself encouraged me to reengage with my faith many years ago.
“She is not a Christian and has no plans to convert, but like many people in an interfaith marriage – or any interfaith relationship – I hope she may one day see things as I do. Regardless, I’ll continue to love and support her and talk to her about faith and life and everything else, because she’s my wife.”
The split rumours reignited again last month when Mrs Vance was photographed without her wedding ring during a visit to the Camp Lejeune military training facility in North Carolina with First Lady Melania Trump.
“Looks like Usha Vance is about to divorce JD?” one person wrote on X, replying to a photo of Mrs Vance without her ring.
“She’s quiet quitting her husband,” said another.
Responding to the speculation, a spokesperson said Mrs Vance simply forgot to wear her wedding ring to the event.
“ (Usha is) a mother of three young children, who does a lot of dishes, gives lots of baths, and forgets her ring sometimes,” a spokesperson for Mrs Vance told People.
The Second Lady was again spotted without her ring an American Red Cross holiday event with military families at Joint Base Andrews in December.
Days later, Mr Vance shut down divorce rumours in an interview withNBC News, telling the publication their relationship is “as strong as it’s ever been”.
“I think that we kind of get a kick out of it,” the Vice President said of speculation over his wife’s wedding ring.
“With anything in life, you take the good with the bad,” he added.
“You accept that there are some sacrifices and there are some very good things that come along with it, too. But our marriage is as strong as it’s ever been, and I think Usha’s really taken to it, and it’s been kind of cool to see how she’s developed and evolved in this new role.”
Usha and JD met at Yale Law School, where they both studied law.
“In a place that always seemed a little foreign, Usha’s presence made me feel at home,” Mr Vance wrote in his 2016 memoir.
The couple graduated in 2013 before tying the knot the following year.
Originally published as JD Vance responds to viral photo of him ‘having an argument’ with his wife
