Usha Vance, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance’s wife, made her political debut speaking at the Republican vice presidential nominee on Wednesday night. When she took the stage on the third night of the convention to introduce her husband, she remarked on their cultural differences: “That J.D. and I could meet at all, let alone fall in love and marry is a testament to this great country,” she said.
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00:00When I was asked to introduce my husband, J.D. Vance, to all of you, I was at a loss.
00:07What could I say that hasn't already been said before?
00:11After all, the man was already the subject of a Ron Howard movie.
00:15I met J.D. in law school when he was fresh out of Ohio State, which he attended with
00:19the support of the GI Bill.
00:22We were friends first because, I mean, who wouldn't want to be friends with J.D.?
00:27He was then, as now, the most interesting person I knew, a working-class guy who had
00:34overcome childhood traumas that I could barely fathom to end up at Yale Law School.
00:39My background is very different from J.D.'s.
00:43I grew up in San Diego in a middle-class community with two loving parents, both immigrants
00:54from India, and a wonderful sister.
00:58That J.D. and I could meet at all, let alone fall in love and marry, is a testament to
01:04this great country.
01:08When J.D. met me, he approached our differences with curiosity and enthusiasm.
01:15He wanted to know everything about me, where I came from, what my life had been like.
01:22Although he's a meat and potatoes kind of guy, he adapted to my vegetarian diet and
01:26learned to cook food from my mother, Indian food.
01:31Before I knew it, he had become an integral part of my family, a person I could not imagine
01:39living without.
01:42The J.D. I knew then is the same J.D. you see today, except for that beard.
01:51And his goals in this new role are the same that he has pursued for our family, to keep
01:55people safe, to create opportunities, to build a better life, and to solve problems with
02:02an open mind.
02:05It's safe to say that neither J.D. nor I expected to find ourselves in this position.
02:10But it's hard to imagine a more powerful example of the American dream.
02:15A boy from Middletown, Ohio, raised by his grandmother through tough times, chosen to
02:23help lead our country through some of its greatest challenges.
02:26I am grateful to all of you for the trust you've placed in him and in our family.