JD Vance Defends Wife's Right to Stay Hindu After Stirring Faith Conversion Debate: 'God Gives Everyone Free Will'

US Vice President JD Vance has hit back at critics after being accused of disrespecting his wife's Hindu faith when he said he hoped she would one day convert to Christianity.

The 40-year-old politician took to social media on Friday to defend his remarks, insisting he had simply answered a question about his interfaith marriage and faith.

Vance made the comments earlier in the week while speaking at a Turning Point USA event honouring slain right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, where he discussed his Christian beliefs and marriage to wife Usha Vance, who was raised Hindu.

'I believe in the Christian Gospel, and I hope eventually my wife comes to see it the same way,' he told the crowd. 'But if she doesn't, then God says everybody has free will, and so that doesn't cause a problem for me.'

Faith and Family

His comments quickly sparked an online backlash, with one user on X accusing him of throwing his wife's religion "under the bus" to appease conservative supporters.

Vance responded directly by reposting the criticism and clarifying his position.

'I was answering a question about our interfaith marriage,' he wrote. 'She herself encouraged me to reengage with my faith many years ago. She is not a Christian and has no plans to convert, but like many people in an interfaith marriage, I hope she may one day see things as I do.'

Vance, who converted to Roman Catholicism in 2019, also condemned what he called "anti-Christian bigotry" in some of the backlash.

'Yes, Christians have beliefs. And yes, those beliefs have consequences, one of which is that we want to share them with others,' he said. 'That is a completely normal thing, and anyone telling you otherwise has an agenda.'

Interfaith Life With Usha

Vance met his wife Usha, 38, at Yale Law School in 2010, and the couple married four years later in an interfaith Christian–Hindu ceremony.

Usha, born in San Diego, California, is the daughter of Indian immigrants from Andhra Pradesh. In a Fox News interview last year, she said her Hindu upbringing helped her and her family 'become really good people'.

The couple share three children, and in a 2024 New York Times interview, Vance revealed that Usha often joins him and the kids at church despite remaining Hindu.

'I help with the kids, but because I'm the one going to church, she feels more responsible to keep them quiet during Mass,' he said. 'She was more than OK with it, and that was a big part of the confirmation that this was the right thing for me.'

Freedom for Their Children

Usha has also spoken publicly about how they raise their children. In a 2024 podcast interview with Meghan McCain, she said they attend Catholic school but are free to choose their own faith.

'They have a choice,' she said. 'We want them to understand both traditions and decide for themselves whether they want to be baptised.'

Balancing Faith and Politics

Vance's latest comments have once again drawn attention to the couple's interfaith relationship as he walks a tightrope between personal conviction and political image.

While his supporters praised his openness about faith, critics accused him of using religion for political gain.

For now, Vance appears unfazed by the backlash, telling followers that faith and family are at the heart of who he is — and that his wife's belief system deserves the same respect he asks for his own.