Usha Vance's Summer Book Choice Has Everyone Dragging Her Marriage To JD

Well, this would certainly explain the outdated prairie dress Usha Vance wore to a recent Cub Scout event. The second lady has been busy of late promoting her "Summer Reading Challenge," an initiative aimed at preventing the dreaded "summer slide" of learning loss in children. Per her office's website, elementary- and middle-school kids who read and log 12 books during their vacation time will be rewarded with a certificate, a "small prize," and a chance to win a trip to D.C.

Vance, who's an avid reader herself, proved that she walks the walk by sharing some of her own warm-weather reads. She might have thought twice about the one she mentioned on July 2. "This week I've been enjoying reading 'Pioneer Girl,' by Laura Ingalls Wilder — the project that led her to write her beloved Little House books for children," Vance wrote on Instagram. She might have assumed no one would object to her choice. She was — sadly — very, very wrong.

JD and Usha Vance's social media feeds say a lot about their marriage to begin with, but this post gave respondents yet another reason to critique both their union and the vice president's politics. "[JD is] all in on charter schools, this reading campaign is pure hypocrisy," zinged one commenter. Another remarked, "I thought this was banned. You know, girls having a say in their lives, and all." One suggested the Trump administration is pushing America back to the harsh times of "Little House on the Prairie": "My favorite part [of the book] is when they all catch deadly illness that modern day vaccines treat!!"

Usha Vance often appears out of her husband JD Vance's league, and many on social media feel she should be doing more to separate herself from the vice president in every sense of the word. They see her child literacy project as particularly tone-deaf in light of the White House's cuts to public education and food assistance. The SLOTUS's Instagram post featuring the prairie-dress look was met with numerous slams, including this one: "Hey, remember when you were a progressive and had a real job? One whose responsibilities didn't involve swooning over your husband while he licks Trump's boots...?"

Vance's summer reading title is also a trifle cringey. As beloved as Laura Ingalls Wilder is, her "Little House" books have been criticized and even banned in some school libraries for their depiction of indigenous and Black people. The Wilder family's pioneer adventures also show a one-sided view of a time when the government was forcing Indigenous populations off their lands in the name of westward expansion. In 2018, a division of the American Library Association took Wilder's name off a children's book award because they felt she no longer represented the award's inclusive values. 

The second lady might have been safer recommending one book she perused during the 2024 campaign: Homer's classic epic poem "The Iliad."  Some followers have kindly suggested other titles for her summer reading list, such as "The Hunger Games" and "The Handmaid's Tale." Personally, we're waiting to see if Vance will dare to mention "Hillbilly Elegy."