Roving Periscope: Trump’s MAGA White racists attack JD Vance’s “Hindu wife”

Virendra Pandit

New Delhi: Barely two days after Republican nominee Donald Trump picked a key former critic as his Vice-Presidential running mate, the fundamentalist Christian, far-right, and White racist brigade in the former President’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) umbrella has started attacking Usha Chilukuri, the Indian-origin wife of James David (JD) Vance, Senator from Ohio.

A noted attorney, Usha Chilukuri Vance, whose parents migrated from Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh to the US, played a crucial role in the life and career of her husband, JD Vance, whom she married in 2016 and has three children with him.

Her Indian origin and Hindu faith have, however, given a handle to extreme MAGA elements, who have targeted her because of her Indian background, fearing Vance would go soft on immigration issues, the media reported on Thursday.

Trump has already been criticizing Democrat President Joe Biden’s ‘soft’ immigration policies. Now, the American fear of “foreigners” taking away what they think is theirs has been unleashed on Usha Chilukuri, whose Indian origins suddenly came to the spotlight when her husband, JD Vance, was picked by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Tuesday.

The extremist Trump supporters are attacking Usha, alleging that Vance and the Republican Party would go soft on immigration issues because of her.

Earlier, Trump was said to be considering tech tycoon Vivek Ramaswamy as his Vice-Presidential pick but later zeroed in on JD Vance probably because he could attract the votes of both the “Never Trumpers” and the South Asian immigrant communities, who have traditionally been Democrat voters.

Not just the rabid MAGA elements, Usha is facing attacks, ironically, from some Indian-origin people, like Saira Rao, too.

“Usha Vance, the latest Indian American woman delighted to do the bidding of White supremacy. Who needs White women when Brown ones are ready to serve!” Rao posted on X.

Even the rabidly White Christian extremist American media has joined in.

The MAGA and extremist elements fear that as Usha has a strong influence on Vance’s career, it might soften the Republican Party’s view on immigration, reported Newsweek.

“Who is this guy, really?” Nick Fuentes, who is an American far-right political commentator said in his podcast. “Do we really expect that the guy who has an Indian wife and named their kid Vivek is going to support White identity?”

These negative comments did not stop at just questioning his stance on immigration. Many also speculated if the “Hindu prayer” at the Republic National Convention (RNC) on Tuesday was because of Vance. Actually, the prayer was a Sikh one, “Ardas,” by Republican member Harmeet Dhillon.

“JD Vance gets tapped as VP and immediately there’s a Hindu prayer at the RNC. Next, we’ll see @SenMikeLee and @JDVance1 team up to convince Trump to let in 10 million Indian immigrants. Green cards on diplomas!” wrote Vicent James on X, who was present during the Capitol Hill attacks on January 6, 2021.

“This is a Christian country and Jesus Christ is God. We’re not going to win without him,” Fuentes said in his podcast.
Commentators did not even spare Vance’s three children.

“There is an obvious Indian coup taking place in the US right before our eyes,” wrote Conservative commentator Stew Peters on X, adding a screenshot of an article about Vance’s three children.

The Republican Party made a ‘smart’ move to pick JD Vance, a former “Never Trumper,” as the ex-President’s running mate. It eyed the support of other “Never Trumpers” and of Indian-Americans, who have mostly voted for the Democratic Party, through Usha Vance.

The extremist right, however, hit by myopia, is losing sleep over immigration, and even faith, the media reported.