Republicans break with MAGA influencers over racist attacks on Usha Vance

Several Republican delegates have condemned racist comments made by MAGA influencers against Senator JD Vance’s wife, Usha Vance.

The daughter of Indian immigrants, she grew up in San Diego before meeting her husband at Yale Law School. They married in 2014 and were later blessed by a Hindu Pandit in a separate ceremony. The New York Times reported.

Former President Donald Trump named JD Vance as his running mate on Monday. Usha Vance delivered a brief speech at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Wednesday, introducing her husband.

After Trump announced his vice presidency, several far-right figures online made racist comments about Usha Vance because of her Indian ancestry and suggested that her influence on Vance’s political career could lead to the Republican Party becoming more lenient on the immigration issue.

Those who made racist comments about her include white supremacist Nick Fuentes, far-right activist Jaden McNeil and conservative commentator Stew Peters.

Several Republican delegates spoke out in an interview with Newsweek at the RNC on Thursday.

“We are not here to be negative,” said Georgia delegate Pam Lightsey Newsweek. “We are here to take back our country and (MAGA influencers) need to jump on the bandwagon or watch it pass by.”

Gwilym McGrew, a delegate from Ventura County, California, said he thought Usha Vance was “pretty accomplished” and her speech was “pretty good.”

When asked about the racist comments, he said, “I think you can search anywhere on the internet for anything said by anyone else about anyone,” adding that he did not see or hear any racist comments about Usha Vance while attending the RNC.

Sharon Lloyd, delegate from Arkansas, said Newsweek that it was clear that Usha Vance loved her husband.

“I like to see that. I like to see a woman worshiping her husband, and you can tell that she worships him and he worships her,” she said. “And that’s beautiful.”

When asked about the racist comments online, Lloyd said, “I’m a Christian first and foremost and I don’t believe God sees race. If it’s the woman that (JD Vance) fell in love with and she fell in love with him, then let him do that. I just don’t think race should play a role at all. That doesn’t bother me at all.”

“You fall in love with someone you like and dislike, someone you adore, and then it’s obvious what happened,” she added. “So I love it. I hate that conservatives do racist things. It’s crazy.”