Second Lady Usha Vance openly discussed in a recent interview how she and Vice President J.D. Vance are bringing up their three children in a household that embraces two different faiths.
During a chat with Meghan McCain on her 2Way program Citizen McCain, Vance, 39, gave her first detailed on-air interview since she and the Vice President took residence at the Naval Observatory in January.
The conversation between the two millennial women explored topics such as parenting young children, Usha’s relationship with J.D., her leisure activities, and her perspective on her role as Second Lady, given her new position as a Yale-educated lawyer.
McCain asked Vance how she’s incorporating her Hindu faith with her husband’s Catholicism, as the couple raises their three kids, Ewan, Vivek and Mirabel.
‘Well, at the time when I met J.D., he wasn’t a Catholic, he converted later, and when he converted, we had a lot of conversations about that,’ Vance said.
She noted how when someone converts to Catholicism they make commitments to the church – including raising their children in the Catholic faith – adding that the vice president’s conversion ‘was a really helpful thing to happen, because we were obligated to have those conversations.’
‘And we had to have a lot of real conversations about, how do you do that when I’m not Catholic and I’m not intending to convert or anything like that,’ Vance added.
Meghan McCain (left) interviewed second lady Usha Vance (right) for an episode of her 2Way show Citizen McCain. The full interview was released Wednesday
Vice President J.D. Vance and Usha Vance post in front of the Taj Mahal with their three children Ewan, Mirabel and Vivek
She said what the couple decided to do was send their kids to Catholic school.
‘And we have given them each the choice,’ she said.
So far eldest son Ewan has decided to be baptized Catholic and middle son Vivek will decide next.
She said that the Vances are also ‘make going to church a family experience.’
‘The kids know that I’m not Catholic and they have plenty of access to Hindu tradition – from books that we give them to things that we show them to the visit recently to India and some of the religious elements of that visit,’ Vance said.
The Vance family visited India, including the Taj Mahal, in April, while the vice president also brought Usha and the kids along with him to a trip to Rome when he met with the late Pope Francis, who had gifts for the Vance children.
The 39-year-old second lady said her kids get to learn about Hindu through spending time with her parents and her grandmother.
‘My grandmother is a particularly devout Hindu,’ she said.
‘She, you know, she prays every day, she does the temple regularly, she’ll do her own pujas, and so they access it that way,’ Vance continued.
Vice President J.D. Vance disembarks Air Force Two in mid-April with his daughter Mirabel (left), along with Usha Vance (center) and sons Vivek and Ewan (right)
Usha Vance floated that she and Vice President J.D. Vance want to throw a Holi party next year at the Naval Observatory, long used for vice presidential entertaining. Holi is the Hindu festival that marks springtime where people throw colored powders at one another
Vance said they don’t always celebrate the Hindu holidays at home, but the kids will call her family members.
The second lady even teased an event the Vances could be hosting at their Naval Observatory home next year.
‘We’re actually hoping to have a Holi party and we’re looking forward to that next year,’ she revealed.
Vice presidents and their families have long used the Massachusetts Avenue compound for events.
When former President Joe Biden was serving as VP, he memorably had pool parties – and squirted reporters with water guns – at the Naval Observatory.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris hosted a party marking the 50th anniversary of Hip Hop in her backyard in 2023.
Holi is a festive celebration marking the start of spring, where attendees typically throw colored powder at each other.
Vance is the first member of a first or second family who practices Hindu, though Harris attended Hindu temples as a child, but attended a Baptist church as an adult.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard also practices Hindu.
She’s the first Hindu to serve in a U.S. Cabinet position.
