JD Vance No Longer ‘Going to Pretend’ About Family Difficulties After Wife Usha Seen Without Ring

Vice President JD Vance is opening up about his relationship with wife Usha Vance after the second lady was recently seen without her wedding ring.

On at least two occasions, the 39-year-old lawyer stepped out ringless — but has claimed via a spokesperson that she “forgets her ring sometimes,” especially because she is “a mother of three young children” who “does a lot of dishes,” according to People.

Now, the vice president is setting the record straight. In an interview with NBC News published Friday, December 5, JD spoke candidly about his relationship with Usha, whom he married in 2014.

“There are certainly ways in which it’s difficult on the family,” JD said of the newfound media attention the family has seen since he took office alongside President Donald Trump. “I’m not going to pretend that it isn’t. But it’s the sacrifice that we signed up for.”

He also discussed how his three children — sons Ewan, 8, and Vivek, 5, and daughter Mirabel, 3 — are dealing with the constant press.

“I think that there’s always a limelight on the kids, and that’s both good and bad,” he said. “Our 8-year-old really doesn’t like it. He wants to have as private of a life as possible. When we come to an event in the White House and he sees the cameras, he doesn’t love it, and so we try to keep him out of that limelight as much as possible.”

“On the flip side,” JD added, “our 5-year-old, who’s a little bit more like me, he probably likes it too much. He loves the fact that wherever he goes, people treat him very specially. They always give him candy or cookies.”

As far as his relationship with Usha goes, JD claims that there is nothing to worry about. In fact, he said that their marriage “is as strong as it’s ever been” and that Usha has “really taken” to her new role as second lady.

Still, it hasn’t stopped the speculation. JD made headlines in October for his overly affectionate embrace with Erika Kirk at a Turning Point USA event at the University of Mississippi.

“I think that we kind of get a kick out of it,” JD said of the rumor mill. “With anything in life, you take the good with the bad.”

According to JD, when his wife forgot to wear her wedding ring on one of those recent outings, she told him that she should run back in the house to get it or else people would spin it into something that it’s not.

That’s when JD told her, “Let them. It’s not even worth the trip to run back upstairs.”

He told NBC News, “So we actually have a little bit of fun with it. And we thought that whole viral social media cycle was kind of funny.”