Usha Vance’s interview with NBC News touched on her disagreements with her husband, JD Vance. She also said she is not involved in his decision-making in a professional capacity.
She said, “I’m not his staffer. I’m not involved in this in any professional sense. … There’s no expectation that we are going to see eye to eye on everything.”
“The expectation is that we are going to be open-minded and have a conversation, and that I’ll provide meaningful input from, you know, the perspective of someone who loves him and wants him to succeed. So even if we don’t agree, it’s — I think it’s always very productive,” Usha further added.
Q: In 2014 you were a registered Democrat. Do you feel fully comfortable in the universe you’re in now?
Usha Vance: Sometimes I have thoughts that fit very comfortably into one side or another, sometimes I have views that are idiosyncratic pic.twitter.com/yDThevAr5M
— Headquarters (@HQNewsNow) March 30, 2026
Usha was a registered Democrat until at least 2014, and has since shifted to voting Republican. Newsweek also reviewed her voter registration records.
When asked about it, she said that she was never forced to change her views or to conform to any policy ideas.
She said, “I do feel very comfortable in that no one has ever asked me to engage in any kind of litmus test on anything. And what I’ve found is that I was myself in 2014. I can be myself today. And I feel very comfortable in that world.”
Usha is reportedly confident in her views, which she said can follow a unique direction, according to NBC News.
“I don’t feel like I have to walk around pretending anything of any sort. I didn’t think I had to do that [in 2014], actually. Sometimes I have thoughts that fit very comfortably into one side or another. Sometimes I have views that are way more idiosyncratic,” she explained.
Usha later stressed, “And it’s a world that I think is actually rather accepting of that, since everyone knows that I really care greatly about JD’s success.”
Here, Usha also talked about her new podcast, “Storytime with the Second Lady.” It is an initiative through which she plans to tackle the decline in childhood literacy rates, as reported by People. The outlet pointed out that this news comes as JD Vance cuts a large number of Education Department staff.
EXCLUSIVE: Second lady Usha Vance says she and Vice President JD Vance don’t always see eye to eye on issues, but they always have “open-minded” conversations. https://t.co/B1WVJh5TX1
— NBC News (@NBCNews) March 30, 2026
This program will also feature guests like former NASCAR driver Danica Patrick and author Brent Poppen.
Speaking about the podcast, Usha told NBC News, “It’s a podcast that really is just for children. The notion is we will have someone come in — a special reader, we’re calling them — read a fun book, have a very short little conversation about things related to the book, maybe about their career, if they have some sort of interesting background.”
She also plans to “invite children to pick up books on their own. It’s sort of just an advertisement for reading.”
