In recent months, Usha Vance looks like she’s been going through it. I’m not saying that with any particular sympathy. Usha sucks, as does her eyeliner-wearing, couch-f–king husband. But we can all see as the life is being drained out of Usha. She barely colors her hair these days- while that’s fine and it’s a personal decision, her greying hair ages her. She looks tired and drawn and profoundly uncomfortable almost every time I see photos of her. People are really talking about whether Usha’s husband is possibly banging Erika Kirk, who ran her fingers through JD Vance’s hair on stage at an event last month. Well, during a rare public outing last week, Usha wasn’t wearing her wedding ring. Was she signaling something? Not according to her office.
After Usha Vance was spotted out without her wedding ring on, rumors about her marriage to Vice President JD Vance began to swirl. A spokesperson for the second lady has now addressed them.
The second lady, 39, visited Camp Lejeune, a military training facility in Jacksonville, N.C., alongside first lady Melania Trump on Wednesday, Nov. 19. Usha did not wear her wedding ring during the appearance, and after photos of the outing were published, rumors of trouble in her marriage to the vice president, 41, picked up steam on social media.
Amid the speculation, a spokesperson for the second lady — who is very private and rarely speaks with press — addressed the ringless appearance in a statement to PEOPLE.
The spokesperson said that Usha is “a mother of three young children, who does a lot of dishes, gives lots of baths, and forgets her ring sometimes.”
Usha and JD have been married since 2014 and share three children: sons Ewan, 8, and Vivek, 5, and daughter Mirabel, 3.
Rumors that the couple had split were also fueled by the vice president’s embrace with Erika Kirk, the widow of right-wing political organizer Charlie Kirk, which went viral in late October.
The photos of Usha and Melania’s visit are in this post – Usha actually looked like she pulled herself together for this appearance. Which makes it all the more notable that she didn’t wear her wedding ring – she made a point of wearing statement earrings and styling her hair, but didn’t remember to wear her engagement ring or wedding band? Fishy. They inadvertently make it sound like Usha is a single mother as well – where’s JD for all of the bathtimes and dishwashing? There are rumors percolating online about where JD spends his weekends, but I haven’t seen anyone confirm it. It would be interesting to see some actual reporting on all of this.
Photos courtesy of Getty.