Vance opens up about his faith journey — and on Usha’s central role

EXCLUSIVEJD VanceJD VanceVance opens up about his faith journey — and on Usha’s central roleVance acknowledged the second lady was unlikely to convert to Catholicism in an interview that touched on Iran, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the “anti-weaponization fund.”Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00Secretary of State Marco Rubio, second lady Usha Vance and Vice President JD Vance on the South Lawn of the White House last month. Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images fileShareAdd NBC News to GoogleMay 26, 2026, 7:09 PM EDTBy Henry J. GomezVice President JD Vance had, in his words, a “vicious editor” for his new book: second lady Usha Vance.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.“She doesn’t sugarcoat things,” Vance said of his wife Tuesday in an interview with NBC News. “She’s very direct.”Usha Vance, he added, was heavily involved in nearly every facet of shaping “Communion,” which is set to be released June 16 by HarperCollins. She helped to “harmonize different chapters” and excise parts that “didn’t add anything of value.” She also played a meaningful role in the memoir’s narrative — a Hindu wife who encouraged her searching husband throughout his faith journey from Protestant to atheist to Catholic convert.“Fundamentally, the book wouldn’t exist without her,” Vance, speaking by telephone in his first interview to preview the book, said of the second lady. “I talk about this in the book. There is a certain irony to it, because she is not herself a Christian. But I certainly, I don’t think, would be a Christian today were it not for my wife.”“Communion” serves as a follow-up to “Hillbilly Elegy,” the 2016 memoir that was adapted into a movie and made Vance famous years before he entered politics. An early excerpt, published this month by USA Today, focused on how he fell in love with his wife, the former Usha Chilukuri.Vance faced criticism last fall for sharing his hope that the...