JD Vance dismisses marriage rumors after Usha seen without wedding ring again

Vice President JD Vance dismissed speculations about his marriage after Second Lady Usha Vance was photographed without her wedding ring for the second time in two weeks, claiming that they find the attention amusing rather than troubling.

Catch up: Usha, 39, was seen without her wedding ring during a holiday volunteer event at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Dec. 1, where she joined First Lady Melania Trump to assemble American Red Cross care packages for deployed service members. It marked the second time in as many weeks that the second lady appeared ringless, the first being a Nov. 19 visit to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, also with Melania Trump.

After the initial instance, a spokesperson for the couple told outlets that the mother of three “does a lot of dishes, gives lots of baths and forgets her ring sometimes.” The missing jewelry sparked headlines across multiple publications, fueling widespread speculation about the state of the Vances’ marriage.

“We get a kick out of it”: Speaking to NBC News on Thursday, Vance recounted how his wife anticipated renewed scrutiny when she realized she had forgotten her rings after showering before a White House event days earlier. “She was like, ‘Oh, if I don’t go back and get them, there’s going to be some ridiculous psycho who talks about it on social media,’ and I was like, let them,” he said.

When asked whether the attention had been difficult for them, the vice president insisted their “marriage is as strong as it’s ever been,” adding that he and his wife actually find the social media frenzy somewhat entertaining. “I think that we kind of get a kick out of it,” Vance told NBC, describing such attention as part of the sacrifices that come with public life.

The big picture: Beyond the ring controversy, scrutiny of the Vances’ marriage intensified following comments the vice president made at an Oct. 29 Turning Point USA event. There, he said he hopes his Hindu wife will eventually share his Catholic faith, which he converted to in 2019. “Do I hope eventually that she is somehow moved by the same thing that I was moved by in church? Yeah, honestly, I do wish that because I believe in the Christian gospel,” he told attendees.

When those remarks drew criticism, Vance defended himself days later on social media, calling the backlash “anti-Christian bigotry” and asserting that wanting to share his faith represents “a completely normal thing.” Usha, for her part, has long stated she is “not intending to convert” to Christianity.