Obama calls out Vance for his speeches on migrants that ignore the second lady's background [View all]

Source: The Independent

Friday 17 July 2026 10:01 EDT


Former President Barack Obama took a rare swipe at JD Vance over his statements on immigrants that ignore the second lady’s life story. Speaking with Malcolm Gladwell on his podcast about post-Civil War Reconstruction’s impact on America, Obama criticized the MAGA politician for his nativist stance on immigration, pointing out that Vance’s own wife, Usha Vance, is the child of immigrants, per Daily Beast reporting.

When asked by Gladwell about his thoughts on the “general project of multiracial democracy now,” Obama said: “One of our major parties is captured by a politics that is not that subtle about suggesting that ‘we the people’ means a certain kind of people.

“When you have the current Vice President making a speech that is basically a blood and soil version of ‘we the people.’ That it matters who your parents were and how long they’ve been here. Despite him being married to…the daughter of an immigrant himself.”

Vance’s wife, Usha, whom he met at Yale Law School and wed in an interfaith ceremony, is the child of two immigrants from India who were living in the U.S. when she was born, automatically granting her U.S. citizenship. Their immigration status at the time of her birth is currently unknown. The Trump administration has sought to end birthright citizenship, which grants citizenship to anyone born in the country, no matter their parents' legal status.

Read more: https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/obama-jd-vance-immigration-usha-b3016921.html