US second lady Usha Vance faces racist attack from MAGA over Indian roots

Usha Vance

Days after the US second lady Usha Chilukuri Vance turned heads at the inauguration ceremony of Donald Trump with her mesmerizing looks, a wave of criticism on social media has emerged targeting her for being an "Indian-American" and a "Hindu".

Usha, the wife of Vice President JD Vance, has become the target of backlash for their Indian ancestry.

Usha took the centre stage on January 20, with President Donald Trump saying in front of the audience at his inauguration event that he would have chosen Usha Vance as his Vice President as "she is smarter but the line of succession did not work that way".

But Trump quickly fell back into his old talking points. With him signing an executive order on the definition of birthright citizenship after taking oath, questions are being raised on social media about Usha's faith, background and citizenship.

Curiosity worldwide about Usha's background, with huge search volume on Google for terms like "Usha Vance religion" and "Usha Vance Citizenship", displays both adoring and hostile opinions about her.

Posts appear to have spiked this week following Trump's inauguration. Several social media users posted on X about Vance, which clearly shows that the  views about her has not been universally positive.

A social media @pigeonbear user posted on X: "Will there be a cow in the White House soon?"

Similar racist and xenophobic comments were made by several others:

@RhinoSaid posted on X: “Tragic. I thought Vance was a Christian?”
@nxpoleon1234 wrote: “Our forefathers are rolling in their graves.”
@FR0STY_333 posted: “Christ is King not some stinky Indian idol.”

One X user wrote in humour about Usha's choice to date and marry Vance. @sailaunderscore wrote: "Dating JD Vance when he was a fat emo kid is like buying bitcoin in 2009. Usha is one of the greatest investors of all time."

Despite the backlash, there were people who admired the Indian-American woman for "emboldening the American Dream". @persianjewess wrote: "JD Vance and Usha Vance are the literal embodiment of the American Dream. A child born in a trailer park to a drug addicted single mother and a child of immigrants have officially become Vice President and Second Lady of the United States of America."

CALI @CALI4AZ: "I can’t tell you how happy I am to have class and elegance back in the White House! I’m so thankful! Here’s Melania Trump & Usha Vance showing the world what American exceptionalism is all about. We are so blessed!"

Usha, 39, on Monday, became the first Indian-American and Hindu Second Lady after her husband JD was sworn in as the 50th Vice President of the US.

As a lawyer who is the daughter of Indian immigrants - her parents' ancestral village is Vadluru in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh - Usha is also one of the youngest second lady after Jane Hadley Barkley, the wife of former President Harry Truman's Vice President Alben Barkley.