JD Vance Marriage Nightmare: Veep Admits to 'Sacrifices' and Goes Off on 'Difficult' Situation After Wife Usha Was Spotted Without Wedding Ring
JD Vance dismissed divorce rumors after wife Usha was spotted without her wedding ring.
Dec. 5 2025, Published 6:05 p.m. ET
Vice President JD Vance has dismissed any cause for concern about his marriage after multiple sightings of Second Lady Usha without her wedding ring.
While attempting to downplay rumors about his marriage being on shaky ground, Vance, 41, acknowledged the "sacrifices" his job has required his family to make and the "difficult" situation he's put them in, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
JD Vance's 'Inappropriate' Hug with Erika Kirk Sparks Rumors
Vance and his wife, Usha, have been married since 2014 and share three young children together.
Speculation about the state of Vance and Usha's marriage was sparked by an eyebrow-raising embrace the vice president shared with Charlie Kirk's widow, Erika, at a Turning Point USA event on October 29, a little over a month after the political activist was assassinated on September 10.
During Vance and Erika's lingering hug on stage, the widow ran her fingers through his hair and cradled his head. The gesture was overwhelmingly deemed inappropriate by social media users as videos and photos of the interaction went viral.
Days later, Usha, 39, attended an event with First Lady Melania Trump, and was notably photographed without her wedding ring.
Usha Ditches Wedding Ring
Usha was spotted without her wedding ring at two separate events with First Lady Melania Trump.
Usha was spotted sans wedding ring again in December, when she attended another event with Melania at Joint Base Andrews.
In response to rumors claiming the couple were headed for divorce, with some critics going as far as suggesting Vance would leave his wife for Erika to help his political career, Usha's representative claimed the mother-of-three wasn't wearing her wedding ring because she "does a lot of dishes, gives lots of baths, and forgets her ring sometimes."
During a recent interview with NBC News, Vance said he and his wife have found chatter about their marriage and Usha's ring entertaining.
Vance Insists His Marriage is 'As Strong As It's Ever Been'
Vance dismissed rumors but acknowledged there's been 'sacrifices' in his marriage.
"I think that we kind of get a kick out of it," the vice president said. "With anything in life, you take the good with the bad. You accept that there are some sacrifices and there are some very good things that come along with it, too."
Vance added: "But our marriage is as strong as it's ever been, and I think Usha's really taken to it, and it's been kind of cool to see how she's developed and evolved in this new role."
While Vance noted how "cool" it's been for him to watch Usha embrace her role as Second Lady, he admitted the media attention has been "difficult."
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The vice president said he's found gossip about Usha's missing ring 'funny.'
"There are certainly ways in which it's difficult on the family... I'm not going to pretend that it isn't," the father-of-three continued. "But it's the sacrifice that we signed up for."
Vance also offered a different explanation for the most recent sighting of Usha without her ring. He claimed as they were rushing to meet Melania, Usha realized she had forgotten to put her ring back on after taking a shower, and anticipated scrutiny online.
"She was like, 'Oh, if I don't go back and get them, there's going to be some ridiculous psycho who talks about it on social media,'" he recalled. "And I was like, let them. It’s not even worth the trip to run back upstairs. So we actually have a little bit of fun with it. And we thought that whole viral social media cycle was kind of funny."
