MILWAUKEE – Usha Vance shined a spotlight on her husband Wednesday as he prepared to accept the Republican nomination for vice president.
In a speech delivered at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, she introduced Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) as a family man whose backstory was a testament to American exceptionalism.
“It’s safe to say that neither J.D. nor myself expected to find ourselves in this position,” she said of Vance’s selection as running mate, “but it’s hard to find a more powerful example of the American Dream.”
Vance, who rose from poverty to become a United States senator, has often taken a self-effacing tone when speaking of his wife, a well-educated litigator whom he met at Yale Law School. In interviews, he has variously described her as a grounding influence in their marriage who is “way more accomplished than I am.”
But on Wednesday, the third night of the convention, Usha Vance introduced her husband to the stage with a speech expressing her love and admiration.
Recounting the story of how they met, Usha offered a window into the softer side of Vance, a “tough Marine” who nonetheless enjoyed “playing with puppies and watching the movie Babe.”
Alluding to his rocky childhood – his grandmother raised him due to the drug addiction of his mother – she called him a loving husband and father who wanted to provide a more stable home for his children.
The speech touched on the same themes as Vance’s. She told the audience he had not forgotten his upbringing and would carry that perspective into his role as vice president.
“The J.D. I knew then is the same J.D. you see today, except for that beard,” Usha Vance joked.
Usha also noted that she and Vance had vastly different backgrounds. Her parents, who immigrated to the U.S. from India, raised her in a middle-class home.
“That J.D. and I could meet at all, let alone fall in love and marry, is a testament to this country,” she said.
“It is also a testament to J.D. and it tells you something about who he is,” Usha Vance added, describing him as intellectually curious about her background and open to her culture. She recounted Vance learning how to cook Indian food for her mother.
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Vance recognized his wife as he approached the microphone to deliver his own address before the crowd of delegates.
“First of all, isn’t she lovely? Isn’t she amazing?” he said.
