What to Know
Usha Vance and Melania Trump have similar roles, join each other for public appearances, and deal with the scrutiny that comes along with being married to their MAGA husbands, but their similarities may end there. During a recent interview with USA Today, Usha was asked about her relationship with the First Lady. Her response was…telling, in a way.
Though she did not go into a ton of detail about their relationship, she said she and Melania are “different people.” Of course, Usha and Melania don’t have to be best friends who have tons of things in common. But some people have taken Usha’s very polite response to mean that the two women don’t exactly enjoy each other’s company.
People understand this dynamic completely.
Given that Usha is married to Vice President JD Vance, she’s not exactly the most relatable person in the world, and to some people, she’s honestly a real enigma. But her description of Melania is something that people actually can relate to. “We’re different people, but different people who can enjoy having conversation together,” she told USA Today. Oof.
Those who have had to spend time with a coworker they don’t like, or a spouse’s friend’s wife with whom they don’t actually have anything in common, read between the lines and assumed that Usha and Melania would not be spending time together if not for their husbands. And there’s nothing wrong with that; we’ve all been there. However, some critics online have argued that they’re not actually all that different from each other given that they both stand by their husbands’ politics.
To be fair, Usha focused on Melania’s positive qualities.
She had nothing negative to say about her, and said they “really get along pretty well.” But as for the things that they have in common, it seems to begin and end with their current roles. “I’ve enjoyed traveling with her a little bit and talking to her about things like raising kids in this kind of crazy life, about our interests and hobbies and that sort of thing,” Usha told the publication.
Melania has also inspired her in some ways. “She’s getting things done, step by step, very methodically. And so that is an inspiration for what I try to do in areas that are a little bit different from what she’s focused on,” Usha said, adding that Melania puts “all of her energy” into the projects she works on and they have all been “quite successful.”
She did not seem to elaborate on another comment she made about Melania when speaking to the publication. “She is very, very focused on doing things her way, and I think very effectively,” Usha said. This could definitely be interpreted as a compliment, but also maybe a backhanded one, depending on how you look at it.
