Vance

VP Vance to Radicals: Stay Away From Our Children

Speaking before a raucous crowd on Thursday night in Dallas at the Republican Midterm Convention, Vice President JD Vance hailed the nuclear family as the foundation of civilization.

“I can’t help but think about what it is that we’re fighting for and what it is that we want for all of our children,” Vance said. “What I want for my family, I want for your family, too.”

Noting that he and his wife, Usha, have recently welcomed Alec, their fourth child, into the family, the vice president praised the freedoms, opportunities and institutions that have been gifted by God and created by previous generations:

We live, of course, in an imperfect world of fallen men. We live in the city of man, not the city of God. But I believe that our founders built this nation on a promise that echoes our Creator, that every American child is born an heir, is born with a birthright, born with the right to inherit the blessings of the greatest country on earth, not because of who their parents are, not because of what they look like or where they come from, but because they are Americans, and this is our country.

Alec’s birth marked the first time in more than 150 years that a sitting vice president had welcomed a child while in office. VP Vance framed his remarks on Thursday around how God’s gift of family is influencing his own children’s view of the world:

It is inside of that nuclear family where I watch my four-year-old little girl, little Mira, beg to feed a bottle to her new baby brother.

It’s inside of the nuclear family where Alex’s older siblings just a couple of weeks ago witnessed the wonder of a new baby’s very first smile. It’s inside of that family where I’ve seen Usha show an almost divine patience with those four kids. 

The former Ohio senator suggested that attacks on the traditional family “come not from a love of country, they come not from a desire to serve you or our fellow Americans, but they come from a very deep emptiness in the soul.”

A student of classic Christian theology, Vance was likely alluding to Augustine’s famous observation in “Confessions,” in which the Bishop of Hippo wrote, “You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”

C.S. Lewis made a similar observation when he wrote, “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”

Talking about the world that the vice president and Second Lady want their children to grow up in, Vance went from the theoretical and theological to the practical. 

“I want my son to grow up healthy and strong,” he told those gathered. “I want him to have access to clean water and real food. I want him to live in a country where you don’t need a PhD in chemistry to understand the ingredient list in the grocery store. I want to live in a country where my son’s doctors answer to parents and to the Hippocratic Oath, not to a bunch of far-left bureaucrats.”

He continued:

“I want him to get a real education. He’s gonna grow up and go to school. I want him to go to a school that teaches him to read, to write, that teaches him arithmetic, that teaches him to love his country and his fellow citizens.”

VP Vance went on to say he wants an America where children can find meaningful employment, enjoy affordable housing and live in safe neighborhoods. 

The vice president warned radical actors to stay away from his and other parents’ children. He then defended the nation’s hard-fought religious freedoms.

“I want them [our children] to be free to worship to the dictates of their own conscience,” Vance declared. “And I want our children to grow up in a country that doesn’t roll its eyes at people who pray but remember that this country itself was an answer to prayer 250 years ago.”

Vice President Vance put a ribbon on his remarks by alluding to marriage as the cornerstone of life, noting, “I want my kids to do the most important thing. I want them to fall in love. I want them to find somebody who’s worth building a life with.”

Thursday night’s address was in a political context, but the underlying message should be nonpolitical: children are gifts from God, entrusted to parents, and not political pawns to be exploited in culture. 

VP Vance in Interview With Bishop Barron: Faith Cannot Be Confined to Private Life

It won’t surprise you that the mainstream media didn’t pay much attention to Vice President JD Vance’s wide-ranging conversation last week with Catholic Bishop Robert Barron, host of a show titled, “Conversations at the Crossroads.”

Officially assigned to the Diocese of Winona–Rochester in Minnesota, Bishop Barron is a theologian and founder of “Word on Fire,” a media ministry that produces and distributes sermons, videos, books and Bible studies. In many ways, he’s a modern-day Archbishop Fulton Sheen, the Catholic clergyman who hosted one of the top-rated television shows in America in the early days of the medium.

Vice President Vance, who is a convert to Catholicism, joined Bishop Barron on the show last Friday to talk about religion, philosophy, and public life – hence the relative silence about the appearance in secular media.

For the past year, Bishop Barron has served on President Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission, a group that was created to advise the White House on a broad range of issues involving religious liberty. Just before Independence Day, the commission submitted a report with a comprehensive list of recommendations that President Trump has vowed to implement.

In the midst of Friday’s conversation, Vice President Vance addressed head-on the reported tension between Pope Leo XIV and President Trump. Seated at a table inside a house looking out onto a leafy backyard and pool, the vice president suggested that perhaps the perceived strain wasn’t all that surprising – and maybe even an indication the system is working as it should be.

“Every time the Pope says something mildly critical of a Trump administration policy, it’s like, ‘Oh, the pope hates the Trump administration,’” Vance noted. “Well, you know, actually, no, maybe the pope is trying to provide the kind of moral teaching that is inherently part of his job. And then we have to take that and try to apply it, which is part of our job. Conversation is essential to that.”

During both the first and second Trump administrations, that tension has most frequently bubbled up over immigration policy. Both Pope Francis and Pope Leo have acknowledged that while countries have a right to enforce their immigration laws and their borders, they have often suggested the government should nevertheless provide a legal pathway to remain in the country and become integrated into the culture. Both popes have also stressed the need to treat illegal aliens with dignity and respect – a value that our government has likewise shared, but which is subjective when officials are forced to deal with violent, aggressive and uncooperative offenders.

During the conversation, both Vice President Vance and Bishop Barron advocated for the need for an active citizenry and noted that people of Christian faith need not check their faith at the church door. 

“Growing up as a young conservative Christian, it sometimes felt like whenever Christians engage in politics, we were very comfortable engaging with this or that social or cultural issue, but not anything else,” VP Vance observed. “And I actually think there’s an opportunity for us to rediscover a more fully Christian politics that says that, ‘Actually, Jesus has opinions about all these things. And in fact, if you don’t get all of it right, you risk getting the most important parts wrong.’”

He continued:

You can’t just confine your faith to these narrow little slices of society or of culture or of your own life. It’s gotta be true for the whole thing … Jesus really cares about how you treat your wife and how you treat your kids, but He also cares about everything else, too. 

Bishop Barron and Vice President Vance went on to discuss C.S. Lewis’ famous reference that God doesn’t merely want a place in your house, but the entire house because He is the architect who understands and is sovereign over every inch of it.

Reflected the vice president: “If you really believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and you believe all the truths that flow from that to your point, He actually has a lot to say about all parts of your life.”

It should encourage Christians that the vice president of the United States is openly and enthusiastically encouraging believers to seek God’s wisdom and then bring their deeply held convictions into the public square.

Stop Trying to Politicize White House Pregnancies

It’s no secret that The New York Times has devoted considerable resources and focus over the last decades to heavily critiquing President Donald Trump, the policies of his two administrations and the broader “MAGA” movement.

But earlier this week, the Old Grey Lady decided to plow new ground – analyzing and commenting on the supposed political significance of the maternity clothes that several members within the president’s inner circle have been wearing.

Over the last few months, there have been numerous stories highlighting something of a “baby boom” at the White House. Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, are expecting their fourth child. The last time a sitting vice president’s wife had a baby was in 1870 when Ellen Colfax, Vice President Schuyler Colfax’s spouse, gave birth.

Last month, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and her husband had their second child. Katie Miller, who is married to White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, had the couple’s fourth child earlier this month.

Writes the Times’ fashion critic, Vanessa Friedman:

Together, the women have created a notably consistent, and somewhat paradigm-shifting, picture of the White House’s family and fertility platform.

If the bare-chested, muscled mixed martial arts fighters of the U.F.C. match that President Trump hosted on Flag Day were the poster guys for MAGA’s image of masculinity, then the pregnant women of Trump world are one half of their feminine counterparts. Along with the sheath-clad, lip-filled, pageant-haired Mar-a-Lago set, they offer an image of idealized womanhood that gives literal shape to the pronatalist movement.

On Mother’s Day, now mother-of-four Katie Miller noted, “Peak feminism is having babies.” She then added, “The most radical thing a woman can do is embrace her biological destiny.”

Sadly, with an American birthrate at just 1.6 children per woman, having multiple boys and girls is quickly becoming a “radical” lifestyle choice.

The Times noted that all three women have chosen wardrobes that accentuate rather than conceal or play down their pregnancies. Liberal author and feminist Jill Filipovic observed: “It almost feels like a memo went out. They have quite intentionally opted to present themselves as, ‘I am really pregnant, and this is what women were chosen to do,’ and they are happy to say that both with their looks and their mouths.”

Predictably, The New York Times seems convinced that the three conservative women featured are consciously and strategically choosing clothes to make a social and political statement rather than simply a fashion choice or a matter of comfort. The article contrasts current maternity fashions with the era of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and even Cherie Blair, wife of Tony Blair, the former British prime minister. 

“Forget the maternity muumuu,” writes the Times. “Forget body-con. This is baby-con. In case you missed it, the hand serves to focus the eye.”

The Times quotes Second Lady Usha Vance, who appears to be defending her choice of clothes. She explains, “I have to dress up a lot more. I enjoyed my last pregnancy — there were a lot of sweatpants. I was working from home and sometimes put a blazer on over what was under.”

On Wednesday afternoon, in response to the Times article, Mrs. Vance politely but satirically pushed back, writing on X:

Now that we know the political significance of my $8.75 coral maternity dress from Old Navy, can’t wait to hear what The New York Times has to say about my elastic-waistband pants and compression socks! In the meantime, enjoy my pregnancy fashion (or lack thereof) and a good story with your kids on Storytime with the Second Lady.

One of the ironies in the Times analysis is how Friedman, a woman undoubtedly with sympathies to more progressive politics than the three women she is writing about likely hold, isn’t outright celebrating this current fashion development. After all, in a progressive’s world, women can certainly wear or not wear whatever they want regardless of societal norms. 

Vanessa Friedman concludes her article by quoting Helen Lewis, author of “Difficult Women: A History of Feminism in 11 Fights.”

“It’s really noticeable that the MAGA women are not hiding their pregnancy,” Lewis said. “There is pride in being pregnant and being fertile.” 

As well there should be – healthy pride, that is.

But then Lewis succumbs to the same psychoanalysis as Friedman, quickly suggesting there is a political motivation on the part of mothers Vance, Leavitt and Miller.

“They are modeling the idea that one of the ways women can hold power is by being mothers and leaning into the imagery of that.”

Does it ever occur to Williams or Lewis that maybe these are three women who love being moms who are simply delighted and unapologetically proud to be pregnant, and want, at the same time, to also dress fashionably as well as comfortably?

Leave it to The New York Times to try and politicize pregnancy and motherhood.

VP Vance Puts His New Book’s Message Into Practice on ‘The View’

It’s not unusual for a former or future vice president of the United States to write a book, but it isn’t very common for a current one to write and release it while still serving in office.

If you were paying any attention to the news this week, you’ve invariably seen Vice President JD Vance making the rounds in national media to discuss his new book, Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith.

The former Ohio senator is already a bestselling author. In 2016, he published, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis. The popular title chronicled his impoverished upbringing and his family’s Kentucky roots. 

VP Vance has made several high-profile appearances in recent days to help promote his latest book. The interview outlets have ranged from The Five, Gutfeld!, and Jesse Watters Primetime on Fox News to ABC’s The View. It’s not surprising that VP Vance found a respectful and friendly audience on Fox. But it was both his willingness to appear and his reception on the undeniably left-leaning ABC show that seemed to garner the most headlines.

The long-running daytime women-dominated talk show featured hosts Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, Alyssa Farah Griffin and Ana Navarro.

The vice president attempted to break the ice at the beginning of the program by asking, “So this is a show of MAGA Republicans, right?”

The panel laughed, but Goldberg was determined to quickly wrestle back any sympathies. “No,” she replied. “This is a show where we talk about what’s happening in the country.”

Of course, the panel on The View is usually more interested in discussing what they think is happening in the country. Their perspectives are often shaped, shaded and informed by their liberal politics and often radical agendas. VP Vance knew what he was stepping into.

Right off the bat, several of the hosts challenged the Trump administration’s border enforcement policies and accused the vice president of serving on a team that has been demonizing immigrants. 

“You do speak about immigration at length in this book, and I believe as a Christian, I can tell my kid why it’s important to have borders,” said Sara Haines. “It’s much harder to explain when I see someone dragged out of the house or wrongly taken and [they] weren’t a violent criminal.”  

“We do have to strike a balance between enforcing our laws — we don’t want to dehumanize people,” the vice president responded. “Law enforcement is always inherently not a very pretty process, especially when you’re dealing sometimes with violent people, people that are resisting arrest.”

He also added, “Everybody is welcome in our country, so long as you’re an American citizen, with the duties and legal obligations and rights to be here.”

Several members on the panel accused the vice president and the Trump administration of not caring about black people and black history. Once more, Vance responded with a friendly but firm tone, and also sought to correct the false assertion.

“Black history is not erased from public spaces, that is not right,” explained the vice president. “I’m telling you we celebrate black history, we celebrate all American history in this administration,” he said.

The vice president’s polite, measured, and even friendly responses are one model for how conservatives can effectively engage ideologically aggressive journalists. Vance raised objections without raising his voice. He pushed back and wasn’t pushed over. Faced with that posture, even the decidedly liberal Joy Behar was forced to admit he wasn’t a “bad guy.”

Political interviews these days are increasingly hostile, but VP Vance suggested prior to his media tour that it need not be. Speaking with Fox News Digital, he reflected, “It may be the optimist in me, but I just fundamentally think that most people — not everybody, but most people — even if I disagree with them, you ought to try to have a conversation with them.”

Writing in his new book, VP Vance observed, “We confine Christianity to the most private of questions – relations between husbands and wives, reproductive decisions – and are then surprised when kids like me grow up in the faith and then discard it.” He then concluded, “We have to do better. If Christianity is true, it must be true for the whole human person at all times of life.”

“All times” includes a 30-minute interview on The View with ideologically combative journalists. This week, VP Vance didn’t just talk — he walked the walk, too. 

JD and Usha Vance Say Erika Kirk’s Regret Shaped Their Fourth Child Decision

In his forthcoming book, Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith, Vice President JD Vance suggests that the assassination of his friend Charlie Kirk led to the Vances’ fourth pregnancy.

The vice president writes:

“For years I had asked Usha to have another baby, and for years she had told me she was done—especially now that public service had elevated us into the national spotlight.”

The Vances are busy raising three children: Ewan (8), Vivek (6) and Mirabel (4).

Prior to being elected vice president, Vance served as a United States senator in Ohio, beginning in 2023. He served in the U.S. Marines then met his wife, Usha, while they were both attending Yale Law School. They married a year after graduation. 

Vice President Vance and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk forged a strong friendship after Vance had been elected to the Senate. They would get together whenever possible and spoke regularly on the phone – especially as the media spotlight homed in on the Ohio senator during the 2024 campaign.

When Senator Vance expressed concern that son Ewan was beginning to resent the family’s fame and attention, Kirk counseled him.

“Don’t try to convince your son it’s not a sacrifice,” Charlie told him. “It is. Just try to take some solace in the fact that it’s a worthy sacrifice. I’ll say a prayer for you.” 

But then came the awful day in September 2025. After news of Charlie’s murder, the Vances flew to Utah to minister to Erika. VP Vance writes about it in his new book:

“As my wife held Charlie Kirk’s widow on the first day of her terrible sorrow, Erika told Usha between sobs that she regretted having only two kids with Charlie.”

There’s little doubt the Kirks wanted more children and they likely would have if Charlie had not been assassinated.

“Get married,” urged Charlie Kirk back when he was alive. “Have children. Build a legacy. Pass down your values. Pursue the eternal. Seek true joy. Having children is way more important than having a good career.”

According to Vice President Vance, the time grieving with Erika Kirk had a profound impact on his wife.

“Something changed for Usha, and not long after we buried my friend, she became pregnant with our fourth child, a boy,” Vance writes. 

He then added:

“One life was stolen from us, but another was given. I don’t know why God does things like this. But I am grateful to Him that there will soon be another source of joy in our lives. Another person added to the communion of our family and hopefully to that of the Church. Another person to whom I will sing, ‘Jesus loves me, this I know.’ Another beautiful soul to wonder at, and fall in love with, God’s beautiful creation.”

Few people know anyone who regrets having too many children, but we all know people who wish they had more.

As Christians, we should be the most vocal and effective promoters of marriage and children – and we do that by modeling the blessings of a happy family filled with as many souls as the Lord sees fit to loan us.