Vice President JD Vance has addressed the gossip surrounding his marriage after his wife, Usha Vance, was seen without her wedding ring.
Last month, Usha Vance fueled rumors when she appeared at Camp Lejeune, a military training base in Jacksonville, North Carolina, alongside First Lady Melania Trump, noticeably without her wedding band.
During the same period, JD Vance attracted attention after being photographed in what appeared to be a close embrace with Erica Kirk.
The Vances have been close with Charlie Kirk and have provided significant support to his wife Erika following his assassination in September. However, the ‘intimate’ hug raised concerns among followers about the state of the Vances’ marriage.
This speculation intensified when Erika Kirk herself remarked on the similarities she observed between her late husband and Vice President JD Vance.
“No one will ever replace my husband. But I do see some similarities of my husband in JD — in Vice President JD Vance. I do. And that’s why I am so blessed to be able to introduce him tonight,” she shared at the time.
Amid the whispers about his marriage, JD Vance has finally spoken out to clarify the situation.
“Our marriage is as strong as it’s ever been,” he told NBC News on Friday (Dec 5), adding that he and Usha have been amused by the rumors.
“With anything in life, you take the good with the bad. You accept that there are some sacrifices and there are some very good things that come along with it, too.”
“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.”
JD and Usha were married in 2014 and have three children together: sons Ewan, 8, and Vivek, 5, along with daughter Mirabel, 3.
In his interview, Vance mentioned that he doesn’t find the speculation about his marriage ‘tough’ to deal with and recounted how he and his wife have laughed off the situation.
Reflecting on a recent moment when Usha forgot her wedding ring at home, he said: “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. It’s not even worth the trip to run back upstairs. So we actually have a little bit of fun with it. And we thought that whole viral social media cycle was kind of funny.”