Usha Vance's Attempt To Deflect From MAGA Hat Question Completely Backfires

By Kristin Conard
Usha Vance waving from the plane in Greenland Pool/Getty Images

JD Vance's wife, Usha Vance, has so far largely stayed out of the political fray as second lady. She's gone on a few trips — who could forget when JD and Usha went to Greenland and tried to make it look fun? But now that Usha's pregnant with their fourth child, she's, reasonably, been keeping an even lower public profile. However, she's launching a podcast, "Storytime With the Second Lady," and as part of the promotion, she did an interview with Kate Snow for NBC News. She was asked a few questions about her connection to the Donald Trump administration, including whether or not she owned one of the red MAGA hats that have become so emblematic. Usha sidestepped the answer, saying, "I don't really own any hats... I think I have a Disneyland hat."

We could see that Usha may have been trying not to get on the bad side of Trump supporters by not outright denying that she had a MAGA hat. But to say it was because she doesn't have hats left her wide open to criticism. Because the internet never forgets. As one person pointed out on X (formerly known as Twitter): "We already caught one lie. I've seen her in at least two hats."

One moment used to counter Usha's claim was the photo that Usha herself had shared on her official Second Lady Instagram page of a 2025 visit to India with the whole family, where she is wearing a wide brimmed sun hat. She's also shared photos of herself wearing baseball caps at an event at Camp Pendleton and for the Special Olympics. Maybe those were just special occasions? Or borrowed hats? Hard to know for sure.

People had theories why Usha Vance wouldn't give a quick answer about a MAGA hat

Usha Vance looking back at JD Vance Pool/Getty Images

Usha Vance's response about the MAGA hat had people confused as to why she couldn't answer a simple yes / no question. Others thought her vague answer was a potential political tactic. "[She] and her husband continue to try and set up for a possible later separation from maga in a post-Trump world," someone said via X. And one person quipped, "TRANSLATION: 'Yeah, somebody gave me one, but I wouldn't be caught dead wearing it.'"

Usha did comment in the interview about how she and JD don't always see eye to eye politically. After all, Usha was once a Hillary Clinton supporter, and she told Kate Snow, "Sometimes I have thoughts that fit very comfortably into one side or another. Sometimes I have views that are way more idiosyncratic," per NBC News.

Along with apparently not owning a MAGA hat, for whatever reason, Usha has also embraced a different aesthetic than others in the Trump orbit. She doesn't seem to have had any work done on her face, and she's letting her hair go gray naturally.

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