Is Usha Vance’s Indian identity an asset or a liability for the Trump-Vance campaign?

Usha Chilukuri Vance loves her “meat and potatoes” husband, JD Vance. She explained to a rapt Republican National Convention audience how their vice presidential candidate adapted to her vegetarian diet and even learned to cook Indian food from her immigrant mother.

The image of her white, Christian husband cooking spicy dishes from her parents’ home state in southern India is unusual for leaders of a party whose membership is still mostly white and Christian. Her presence at the RNC has stirred enthusiasm on social media among some Indian-American conservatives, particularly Hindu Americans, although most Hindu Americans identify as Democrats.

But although Usha Vance spoke about their marriage in a speech in Milwaukee that lasted just over four minutes, in which they merged their identities, she made no mention of her Hindu upbringing, her personal faith or their interfaith relationship — biographical details that have exposed her to online criticism and hate.

While some political analysts say her strong presence as an Indian American continues to be a source of pride for the community, others question whether the Republican Party is actually ready for a second Indian lady.

Usha Vance has chosen to remain silent about her religion in the run-up to the election, declining to speak to The Associated Press about the matter. She declined to answer questions about whether she is a practicing Hindu or whether she attends Mass with her Catholic husband, an adult convert to the faith in which their three young children are being raised.

Raised in San Diego by immigrant parents, both professors, in an Indian family, Usha Vance confirmed that one of their children has an Indian surname, and she and J.D. Vance were married in both an “Indian and American wedding.” The couple met as students at Yale Law School.

Her Hindu background may appeal to some South Asian voters, which could add value in swing states with larger South Asian communities, such as Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina, said Dheepa Sundaram, a professor of Hindu studies at the University of Denver. Sundaram said that while some Indian and Hindu conservatives may be willing to embrace Usha Vance, that doesn’t seem to be part of the party’s strategy to reach the public.

“I feel like her Indian identity is more of a liability than an asset,” she said. “It also feels like the campaign wants to have it both ways: Usha can be Indian, which is great, but we don’t want to talk about that.”

Sundaram said Usha Vance would be particularly attractive to Hindu-Americans who support the policies of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, under whom Hindu nationalism has become a reality.

Deep divisions exist in some American Indian communities over issues such as taxes, education, relations with India and anti-caste legislation, which has gained traction in Seattle and California. Caste is the division of people based on birth or descent, and calls are growing in the U.S. to outlaw discrimination related to it.

About 7 in 10 Asian Americans identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party, while about 3 in 10 identify with or lean toward the Republican Party, according to Pew Research Center surveys conducted in 2022 and 2023. AAPI Data/AP-NORC research from earlier this year found that fewer than 1 in 10 Asian Americans trust the Republican Party more than Democrats on key issues like abortion, gun policy and climate change, while about half or more trust the Democratic Party more than Republicans.

Still, Usha Vance, “the other woman who looks like us and talks like us,” could help appeal to a group of voters Republicans have had difficulty reaching, said Ohio Sen. Niraj Antani, a Republican and Indian-American who is the youngest member of the state Senate.

“If Republicans don’t reach out to minority groups, we will lose the election.”

Vivek Ramaswamy, a 39-year-old biotech entrepreneur who ran for president in 2020 and now supports the Trump-Vance line, brought his Hindu faith to the forefront of his campaign last year. He has said Hindu teachings share much in common with Judeo-Christian values. He declined to comment on Usha Vance’s religious background.

Usha Vance’s silence about her religion and Ramaswamy’s defeat in the primary may indicate that being anything but Christian may still be a problem for some GOP voters, said Karthick Ramakrishnan, a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, and executive director of AAPI Data.

“What we’ve seen since the convention is more exclusionary elements in the Republican Party speaking out against Usha and J.D. Vance,” Ramakrishnan said. “That, I think, suggests that there’s a political price to pay in terms of being open to someone’s religious identity that isn’t Christian. There’s still a long way to go.”

Antani, a Hindu candidate who has won several statewide elections in Ohio in a region that is largely Christian and deeply conservative, said that “the racism in the Republican Party comes from racists, not Republicans.” Antani, who celebrated Usha Vance’s talk about her Indian heritage at the RNC convention, believes Ramaswamy lost not because he is Hindu but because he was not as well-known as the other candidates.

J.D. Vance, who has publicly condemned online attacks on his wife, has spoken about raising his three children as Catholics, but his wife is not mentioned in those conversations. He has also spoken about how she helped him find his Catholic faith after a rocky spiritual journey when he was raised Protestant and became an atheist in college. He and his children were baptized in the church in 2019.

Suhag Shukla, executive director of the Hindu American Foundation, said the fact that Usha Vance inspired her husband’s religious journey toward Catholicism is “as Hindu as it gets.”

“Hinduism is about finding your own path and getting in touch with your own spirituality,” she said, adding that the definition of a “practicing Hindu” includes someone who goes to a temple and performs rituals as well as someone who is a cultural Hindu, celebrating holidays like Diwali or simply engaging in spiritual practices like meditation.

Usha Vance exemplifies the positive contributions that Hindus make, and her marriage to a person of another faith and her ability to listen to other perspectives reflect the teachings of Hinduism, she said.

“Indian Americans are assimilating, but they’re also holding on to what inspired them in their traditions and culture,” Shukla said. “Our pluralistic background puts us in a good position to get along with different people without compromising who we are. Indian culture is very welcoming of differences of opinion.”

Shukla said those turning to the Republican Party are responding to anti-Hindu prejudice against Hindu Democrats that their own party has failed to quell.

“There is this perception that the Democratic Party is not concerned about the welfare of Hindu-Americans or is deaf to the concerns of the community,” she said, referring to legislation to include caste as a category in anti-discrimination bills that was proposed and passed in Seattle. Similar legislation was vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in California.

But Ramakrishnan is not sure whether Indian-Americans feel welcome in the Republican Party, even if they agree with conservatives on some issues.

“One of the reasons Indian Americans have consistently supported Democrats is the rise of Christian conservatism and nationalism,” he said. “That in itself makes them less likely to vote Republican or identify as Republican.”