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JD Vance Ribs Usha on Stage: She Has to Smile No Matter What ‘Crazy’ I Spew

The second lady was standing on stage behind her husband. Like he said, she smiled as he poked fun at her.

Vice President JD Vance poked fun at his wife on stage in a viral moment Friday that critics suggested made him appear like a controlling husband. Vance spoke at a plastics company in Michigan—with the second lady, Usha, standing behind him—and joked that his spouse of 11 years had to laugh no matter what he says since cameras are rolling. “I’m so proud to have her by my side,” Vance began. “And here’s the thing, because the cameras are all on, anything that I say, no matter how crazy, Usha has to smile and laugh and celebrate it... I’m going to be good though, honey.” Usha, a 39-year-old who graduated from Yale Law School, laughed at the joke, as did some of the crowd. That was not Vance’s only attempt of humor at the event. Earlier in his speech, he mentioned protesters outside who were demonstrating against his appearance and suggested they needed to find work—a joke that did not appear to fully land with the crowd, who were also off work. The second couple’s appearance Friday was their first since being loudly booed at the Kennedy Center on Thursday