Vice President JD Vance is firing back after former White House press secretary Jen Psaki made remarks implying that his wife, Usha Vance, fears him.
“I think it’s disgraceful, but of course the second lady can speak for herself,” Vance told reporters during his trip to Israel on Thursday. He added that he’s “very lucky to have a wonderful wife” and was honored to have her by his side during his visit.
Psaki sparked backlash earlier this week after her comments on the I’ve Had It podcast, where she mocked Vance and suggested Usha might need “saving.”
“I think the little Manchurian candidate, JD Vance, wants to be president more than anything else,” Psaki said. “I always wonder what’s going on in the mind of his wife. Like, are you OK? Please blink four times. We’ll come over here. We’ll save you.”
She went on to call Vance “scarier” than former President Donald Trump, claiming he’s “young, ambitious, and a chameleon” who adapts to his audience.
The comments went viral on social media, drawing widespread criticism. Trump communications director Steven Cheung accused Psaki of “transferring her own personal issues onto others,” while Fox News contributor Joe Concha called her “not a good person. At all.”
Usha Vance, a Yale Law graduate and former clerk for Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, has built a respected career as a litigator specializing in complex civil cases.
Vance has often credited his wife for grounding him, writing in his memoir Hillbilly Elegy that she was his “Yale spirit guide” and that her presence made him feel at home in an unfamiliar environment.
The couple married in 2014 and share three children — Ewan, Vivek, and Mirabel — balancing family life with the demands of political life under an increasingly bright spotlight.