JD Vance Wishes His Hindu Wife Will Convert to Christianity—Places Politics Over Family?

Key Points

US Vice President JD Vance has come under fire for publicly wishing his Hindu wife, Usha, converts to Christianity. He made the comment on Wednesday, 29 October 2025, at a Turning Point USA event.

Vance was engaged in an informal debate with an Indian-origin student at the University of Mississippi at the time. She questioned Vance on his government’s stance on immigration before pivoting to his personal relationship. The debate was part of an event organized by Turning Point USA – a conservative advocacy organization founded by the now deceased Charlie Kirk.

Vance’s Comments

“As I’ve told her and I’ve said publicly, and I’ll say now in front of 10,000 of my closest friends:” he said, “Do I hope eventually that she is somehow moved by the same thing that I was moved in by 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.”

Vance made the comment replying to a question about his family’s religious dynamic.

“If she doesn’t, then God says everybody has free will, so that doesn’t cause a problem for me.”

He went on to elaborate on Usha’s religious background, their relationship, and how the couple navigates raising children in a multi-religious household.

“Yes, my wife did not grow up Christian. I think it's fair to say that she grew up in a Hindu family but not a particularly religious family in either direction,” Vance said, “In fact, when I met my wife … I would consider myself an agnostic or an atheist, and that's what I think she would have considered herself as well.”

He added that Usha attends Mass with him on most Sundays now. The couple is raising their three children in the Christian tradition as well. “Our two oldest kids ... go to a Christian school. Our 8-year-old did his first Communion about a year ago,” he said, “That's the way that we have come to our arrangement.”

See Also: Not isolated incidents: US Congressman condemns attacks on Hindu temples

Vance and Usha’s Religious Backgrounds

JD Vance was raised in a Protestant family in Ohio, while Usha Vance (née Chilukuri) comes from a Telugu Hindu family. The two met as law students in Yale. Both considered themselves to be agnostic at the time.

Vance said that his religious curiosity peaked during his time in university, aided by conversations with Dominican friars. He was only baptised in 2019, at the age of 35.

Usha has said publicly that she was brought up in Hindu household with, if not religious, then strong cultural values. She revealed that Vance converted to Catholicism after they met. “When he converted, we had a lot of conversations about that because it was actually after we had our first child,” she said on a podcast earlier in 2025.

“When you convert to Catholicism it comes with several important obligations, like to raise your child in the faith and all that. We had to have a lot of real conversations about how do you do that, I’m not Catholic, and I’m not intending to convert or anything like that.”

The two married in a ceremony performed by both a Catholic and a Hindu priest. Usha remarked that her children are exposed to both Christian and Hindu cultures.

Public Reaction

Vance’s comments were met with immediate backlash from the Indian-American community. Critics online accused Vance of placing politics above his wife’s values. Many called him hypocritical for not willing to admit Usha’s Hindu origin even though they had a Hindu priest at the wedding and one of their children is named Vivek, which stems from Hindu philosophy.

Christian MAGA supporters, however, came out in support of Vance amidst the controversy. They defended his comments as an expression of his personal desires. They argued that at no point did he criticize Hinduism, rather only asserted his own Christian convictions.

Others have taken a harder line, calling his comments ‘Hinduphobic’. Suhag Shukla, director of the Hindu American Foundation said that Vance’s comments were “not a winning strategy for someone who wants to be President of ALL Americans.”

Reasoning Behind Vance’s Comments

Vance’s remarks appear to reflect his ongoing efforts to connect with evangelical voters, who make up a key segment of the Republican base. His expression of hope for his wife’s conversion was interpreted by some as an attempt to emphasize his Christian convictions rather than a critique of Hinduism.

Vance’s conversion to Catholicism helped him climb the ranks of conservative politics. He is emblematic of the resurgence of religion-driven politics in the US. He has frequently supported traditionalist values through his politics, while also aligning himself accordingly on social issues.

Vance is expected to be a front-runner for the next US Presidential elections in 2028. His comments, then, can be seen as a way to reaffirm support from a religion-driven Republican vote base. Though amidst growing anti-Indian sentiment in America, his decision to distance himself from his wife’s cultural identity raises the question: what is more important to Vance, politics or family? [Rh]

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