A social media post on X circulating online has sparked fresh debate around Vice President JD Vance’s political loyalties and inner circle. The post features a collage with two contrasting images.
One side shows a family photograph of relatives of Vance’s wife, Indian American Usha Vance, celebrating Thanksgiving in 2024. The other shows JD Vance and Usha Vance posing with their children alongside Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an official interaction. Sharing the collage, the user wrote, “This should not come as a surprise to anyone. Anyone who thinks Vance is loyal to real Americans is completely blind.”
The post also included a screenshot of an NBC News exclusive reporting that entrepreneur and Republican figure Vivek Ramaswamy has brought on board top political advisers from Vance’s team to support his expected run for governor of Ohio.
The overlapping personnel choices point to strong backing for Vivek Ramaswamy from JD Vance’s political network, which also overlaps at times with President Donald Trump’s inner circle. It suggests that Vance isn’t just ideologically aligned with Ramaswamy, but is also willing to lend trusted advisers from his own team to help shape Ramaswamy’s Ohio governor run.
As these connections became public, online reactions quickly turned heated. One comment read, “Let’s pray that Americans gain consciousness. Let’s not mention how corrupt Indians are or how they have been invading, spreading scams and fraud everywhere. JD Vance’s children’s grandparents are 1000% Hindutva. Modi is there with them. Seeds have been planted, have sprouted.”
Another user wrote, “This image will be how JD’s political career dies.” The person who shared the post added, “As it should be. The fact he named his child Vivek says a lot.”
READ: Who is JD Vance’s Indian American wife Usha? Congressman Shri Thanedar fires back (
Amid the backlash, GOP leader Vivek Ramaswamy went viral after being asked by comedian and YouTuber Alex Stein why Vice President JD Vance named his son after him. “Come on,” Ramaswamy laughed, before deflecting the question. “You ask him, man,” he said in the clip.
Ramaswamy was a classmate of both JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance at Yale Law School between 2010 and 2013, and the three are believed to be close friends. The Vances naming their son “Vivek” is widely seen as a nod to that friendship. Their other children are named Ewan and Mirabel, making Vivek the only Indian name among the siblings.
The personal ties run deeper. JD Vance married Usha in 2014, while Vivek Ramaswamy married Dr. Apoorva in 2015, around the same period.
With all these associations now being spotlighted, Vance’s Indian connections are increasingly being framed by critics as signs of disloyalty to Americans. His visible support for Vivek Ramaswamy has further fueled this narrative, with online hostility toward Indian Americans increasingly extending to Vance himself as well.