New Delhi:

After Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 US Presidential elections, social media has been abuzz with rumours that his health is deteriorating which is why he’s been avoiding the public eye.

“Where’s Joe” is among the top trends on X (formerly Twitter) globally with people wondering why the US President hasn’t made a public appearance in the last five days. The truth: Biden has tested positive for Covid and is isolating, the White House said in a statement last week.

But that hasn’t stopped social media users from coming up with theories about the 81-year-old. Several posts claiming that “Joe Biden is in hospice care and unlikely to survive the night” have gone viral on the social platform.

Another theory was floated by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance. The two leaders hit out at the Democratic party for a “coup” against President Biden to push him out of the race.

When asked if Biden’s dropping out of the election was a “coup against Joe Biden,” Donald Trump said “Sort of,” before Vance jumped in.

“Yeah, I think it is. I mean, look, there’s a constitutional process, the 25th Amendment. If Joe Biden can’t run for president, he can’t serve as president,” Vance said in an interview with Fox News.

Biden’s decision came after internal pressure by the Democratic Party mounted following a widely criticised debate against Trump on June 27. Vice-President Kamala Harris has won the support of the party’s lawmakers to take Biden’s place in the Presidential elections.

Joe Biden, after his shock announcement Sunday that he was dropping out of the race to the White House, urged his fellow Democrats on Monday to rally around Harris’ candidacy.

“She’s the best,” he said, his voice still hoarse from Covid.

Harris has less than four months to convince the American public she has what it takes for highest office.

Donald Trump was in the lead in polls in the state against Joe Biden, but it is still too early to know whether he will maintain that lead against Kamala Harris.

Washington:

Republican leader Vivek Ramaswamy, who had predicted President Joe Biden would not be the Democratic presidential nominee for the November election, has said the country is not running against a candidate but an unelected managerial class machine.

The Indian-American businessman-turned-politician said on Monday that the speed at which the ruling Democratic Party moved to replace incumbent President Joe Biden with Vice President Kamala Harris as a possible candidate for the November 5 polls raises lots of questions.

“We’re not actually running against a candidate here. We’re running against a machine. That’s a deep understanding of what’s going on that requires rejecting some of the things you might otherwise think,” Ramaswamy said in a 15-minute long video posted on various social media platforms.

During the Republican presidential debate last November, Ramaswamy, 38, had predicted that Biden would not be the Democratic presidential nominee, a claim dismissed as a ‘conspiracy theory’ by much of the mainstream media at that time.

On Sunday, Biden shocked the nation by announcing that he is backing out of the presidential race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, who, as of now, is the only Democratic Party leader in the race.

“It’s not Biden that we were up against at all. His cognitive deficits, and I would argue Kamala Harris’s cognitive deficits, they’re not a bug to the people who control them. Those cognitive deficits are a feature. It is a wheel of the managerial class crushing the will of everyday citizens, not just in the Republican Party, but even in the Democratic Party,” he said.

He said that the Democrats may not agree with everything that Donald Trump or the Republican Party says today, and that’s fine. No two Americans agree on 100 per cent of policies. That’s a rarity, Ramaswamy, who in January suspended his Republican presidential campaign and endorsed former president Donald Trump, said.

But you do deserve a president and a party that at least tells you the truth, not just when it’s easy, but when it’s hard and when it’s uncomfortable, he said.

“Beyond just this individual game, whether it’s Joe or whether it’s Kamala, we got to realise the thing that we’re actually solving for is defeating that machine, the rise of that managerial class, bigger than any other individual, it embodies the philosophy of what the modern left is really about,” he said in the video that went viral on social media.

“It’s not about individual agency. It’s that collective will. That’s what this machine really is about…. That’s really what we’re running against. That’s what we’re running to defeat. That’s the system we’re running to break. That’s what the deep state is really about,” Ramaswamy said.

“This is about the unelected managerial, you could call them elites, you could call them bureaucrats, you could call them monarchs, who have no accountability to the people, but whose decisions are actually most impactful on how citizens live their lives,” he said and urged the Democrats to put their best possible nominee for the elections.

Ramaswamy alleged that this is a party and a movement on the Democrat side that has made it its core reason for existence to keep former president Trump out of office. “They’ve tried every way to stop him within the legal system and extra-legally as well.” But all their efforts to keep him from the ballot have not just failed but backfired making Trump and the Republican Party more popular, he added.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

US Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday said she has earned the support needed to become the Democrat presidential nominee, two days after Joe Biden, who was seeking re-election, announced to bow down.

“When I announced my campaign for President, I said I intended to go out and earn this nomination. Tonight, I am proud to have secured the broad support needed to become our party’s nominee, and as a daughter of California, I am proud that my home state’s delegation helped put our campaign over the top. I look forward to formally accepting the nomination soon,” she said in a statement. 

Joe Biden, who was seeking a rematch against Republican candidate Donald Trump in the November 5 US elections, announced to step aside on Sunday.

The 81-year-old ended the re-election bid amid mounting pressure over his health concerns and pledged to remain in office until his term ends in January 2025. He has now thrown his support behind 59-year-old Harris.

“I am grateful to President Biden and everyone in the Democratic Party who has already put their faith in me, and I look forward to taking our case directly to the American people,” Kamala Harris, the first Black American and first Indian-American to be elected vice president, said.

Tonight, I am proud to have earned the support needed to become our party’s nominee.

Over the next few months, I’ll be traveling across the country talking to Americans about everything on the line. I fully intend to unite our party and our nation, and defeat Donald Trump. pic.twitter.com/Bsq3N6pMAi

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) July 23, 2024

“This election will present a clear choice between two different visions. Donald Trump wants to take our country back to a time before many of us had full freedoms and equal rights. I believe in a future that strengthens our democracy, protects reproductive freedom, and ensures every person has the opportunity to not just get by, but to get ahead,” Harris said.

“I fully intend to unite our party, unite our nation, and defeat Donald Trump in November,” she added.

An unofficial survey of delegates by the news agency Associated Press showed Kamala Harris with more than 2,500 delegates, well over the 1,976 needed to win a vote in the coming weeks. 

Democratic party is scheduled to announce the presidential nominee by August 7.

Replacing Biden atop the ticket has also revved up speculation about who might join Harris as a vice presidential candidate.

According to reports, the people being discussed are Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

(With agency inputs)

Vice President Kamala Harris has quickly risen as the Democratic Party’s likely presidential candidate since Joe Biden dropped out of the race Sunday and endorsed her, buoyed by support from other leading party figures as well.

However, the question remains, who will be her running mate?

Choosing one is a delicate matter, with several factors that need to be considered, whether it’s winning key states, picking up votes in rural areas, appealing to moderates or considering different demographics.

The selection process, usually conducted over the course of several months, will move at a quickened pace this time so the ticket can be finalized at the Democratic National Convention, which begins on August 19 in Chicago.

– Josh Shapiro –

One of the top potential choices is Josh Shapiro, the 51-year-old governor of Pennsylvania.

Adding him to the ticket would make a strong play for his state’s crucial electoral college votes, as Pennsylvania is one of the most important swing states this election.

Shapiro, an effective orator and assertive political centrist, was elected governor in 2022 when he faced off against a far-right candidate backed by Donald Trump.

Shapiro previously served as Pennsylvania’s attorney general, a role in which he denounced sexual misconduct by Catholic priests against thousands of children and sued Purdue Laboratories, the manufacturer of the highly addictive opioid OxyContin.

– Mark Kelly –

Mark Kelly, a 60-year-old former astronaut and US Navy captain, has been a senator for Arizona since 2020.

He represents another swing state that Biden narrowly won over Trump in 2020; the margin between them was the slimmest anywhere in the country.  

Kelly’s Senate campaign was particularly notable because of his efforts to promote gun control. His wife, former Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, almost died in 2011 when she was shot in the head at close range while meeting with constituents in Tucson.

– Andy Beshear –

Andy Beshear,  the 46-year-old Kentucky governor, won reelection last November, campaigning on abortion rights against a candidate backed by Trump.

Beshear could bring votes from his state, located on the edge of the Rust Belt — a large part of the United States marked by decline in steel and other industries — which could form a balance with affluent California, Harris’s home state.

When asked on MSNBC on Monday morning about the possibility of being considered for vice president, Beshear simply replied: “If somebody calls you on that, what you do is at least listen.”

Beshear also took aim at Trump’s vice presidential pick, J.D. Vance, who was elected as senator from the neighboring state of Ohio but has grandparents from Kentucky.

– Roy Cooper –

Roy Cooper, the 67-year-old governor of North Carolina, is another leader from a mixed, so called purple state, this one won by Trump by just one percentage point in 2020.

Cooper was first elected in 1986 and he has never lost an election since. A moderate Democrat, picking him could convince centrist voters to lean left.

One of his key issues is the protection of abortion rights, a major issue this election taking place two years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling which guaranteed federal abortion protections.

Cooper was interviewed Monday morning on MSNBC, where he declined to comment about the prospect of being Harris’s running mate, instead calling for people to focus on her, whom he strongly supports.

– Other possibilities –

Some other people being mentioned as possible vice presidential candidates include Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Maryland Governor Wes Moore, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who for a time sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, is also on the list, as is Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock, the state’s first Black senator.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

Kamala Harris is not yet the Democratic Party’s candidate for president but her status online is already clear: she is a meme.

In the latest testament to her viral presence among Gen Z, British pop sensation Charli XCX name-checked her in a weekend tweet that called the vice president a “brat”.

 And Harris’ campaign is leaning into it.

Soon after the artist tweeted “kamala IS brat” on Sunday night – giving Harris the name of her latest album – the U.S. vice president adopted the album’s lime green aesthetic for her “Kamala HQ” account.

Charli XCX was acknowledging something that had already taken off online, where viral memes were featuring video clips of Harris dancing and joking against Charli XCX tracks.

Brat, the singer has explained, is “that girl who is a little messy and likes to party and like maybe says some like dumb things sometimes, who like feels herself but then also like maybe has a breakdown… It’s brat, you’re brat, that’s brat.”

Her tweet on Sunday sent the trend soaring, a phenomenon that could help Harris’s outreach to younger voters that could play a pivotal role in the Nov. 5 election.

That contrasts not only with 78-year-old Republican rival Donald Trump, but with Harris’s 81-year-old boss, President Joe Biden, who quit the race at the weekend and endorsed his vice president as his replacement at the top of the ticket.

A spokesperson for Charli XCX declined a request for an interview.

The ‘brat’ trend joins another Harris viral meme – audio from a 2023 speech that was pilloried before by critics, but is now embraced by Gen Z as a sort of existential philosophy.

“‘You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?'” Harris asks in the speech, quoting what her mother used to say, before laughing and then growing serious. “You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.”

The Internet hive mind has adopted a coconut emoji as an unofficial campaign symbol for Harris. TikTokers have used sound from the “coconut tree” speech in at least 3,000 videos, according to TikTok.

Harris’s membership in Alpha Kappa Alpha – the first Black Greek-letter sorority – at Howard University in Washington, D.C., is also sparking viral engagement online.

“Listening to the opposition knowing we have 22,190,813 members in the D9 abt (sic) to vote for Kamala!” says one video on TikTok featuring two women, one of which is in the AKA colors of pink and green. D9 refers to a group of nine historically Black fraternities and sororities.

To be sure, Harris has her share of haters online. Critics have pushed clips aimed at portraying her in a negative light, including compilations of her boisterous laugh, after Trump himself referred to her as “Laffin’ Kamala.”

Younger voters, who overwhelmingly vote Democratic, had so far been unenthusiastic about a presidential race between Biden and Trump, 78 years old.

“It’s very hard to understand Gen Z unless you’re Gen Z,” said Chris Mowrey, a Democratic social media influencer with 340,000 TikTok followers, referring to the generation born between 1997 and 2012.

Internet moments can translate to the ballot box, Mowrey added: “Young voters vote significantly more based on just personality and, like, vibes.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington DC:

Former President Barack Obama, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have yet to make their stand clear on endorsing Kamala Harris for the Presidential nomination. This even as a slew of Democrat Party leaders on Sunday displayed a show of support for Vice President Kamala Harris as their new presidential candidate, Politico reported.

Former President Barack Obama in a post on the platform Medium said “We will be navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead. But I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges.”

The statement, however, stops just short of officially backing Harris for the top job. Obama’s endorsement of Harris will be critical given that the Democratic National Convention is being held between August 19 to 22 on Obama’s home turf of Chicago.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s reaction to the withdrawal of Joe Biden from the presidential race was one of effusive praise for Biden but had nothing to suggest that she had endorsed Harris.

“President Joe Biden is a patriotic American who has always put our country first. His legacy of vision, values and leadership make him one of the most consequential Presidents in American history. With love and gratitude to President Biden for always believing in the promise of America and giving people the opportunity to reach their fulfilment,” she said on X.

After President Joe Biden endorsed her to be the new Presidential nominee, Harris got support from several Democrats like former President Bill Clinton, and former Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. In a statement, the Clintons said “We are honoured to join the President in endorsing Vice President Harris and will do whatever to support her.”

Congressman Ro Khanna also endorsed Kamla Harris saying “I am proud to endorse Kamala Harris as our nominee. Her trailblazing candidacy as the first African American woman and first Asian American will be a jolt of energy in our party. Our party can now run on a message of hope and a vision for the future.”

Congressman Jim Clyburn representing South Carolina’s 6th Congressional district said he echoed President Biden’s endorsement of Harris.

“I echo the good judgement he demonstrated in selecting Vice President Harris to lead this nation alongside him, and I am proud today to follow his lead in support of her candidacy to succeed him as the Democratic Party’s 2024 nominee for President,” he said.

The goal now for the supporters of Harris is to get enough backers on board to help her win the nomination when the Democratic National Convention gets underway.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who has been spoken of as a potential Vice Presidential running mate to Harris called for the party to unite behind her and focus on winning the election.

“The best path forward for the Democratic Party is to quickly unite behind Vice President Harris and refocus on winning the presidency. the contrast in this race could not be clearer and the road to victory in November runs right through Pennsylvania this collective work began. I will do everything I can to help elect Kamala Harris as the 47th President of the United States,” Shapiro said in a statement on X.

With barely a month to go before the Democratic party convenes in Chicago the task before them is tough, Donald Trump already has a head start and only a united front can hope to wrest the initiative from him.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

File picture of U.S. President Joe Biden, right, with Vice President Kamala Harris
| Photo Credit: AP

With U.S. President Joe Biden ending his reelection bid and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris, Democrats now must navigate a shift that is unprecedented this late in an election year.

Democrats are set to hold their convention in Chicago on August 19-22. What was supposed to be a coronation for Mr. Biden now becomes an open contest in which nearly 4,700 delegates will be responsible for picking a new standard-bearer to challenge Republican Donald Trump in the fall.

The path ahead is neither easy nor obvious, even with Mr. Biden endorsing Harris. There are unanswered questions about logistics, money and political fallout.

Can Biden redirect his delegates?

Mr. Biden won every State primary and caucus earlier this year and only lost the territory of American Samoa. At least 3,896 delegates had been pledged to support him.

Current party rules do not permit Mr. Biden to pass them to another candidate. Politically, though, his endorsement is likely to be influential.

What could happen at the convention?

With Biden stepping aside, Democrats technically start with an open convention. But realistically, his endorsement pushes Democrats into murky territory.

The immediate burden is on Ms. Harris to solidify support across almost 4,000 delegates from the states, territories and District of Columbia, plus more than 700 so-called super-delegates that include party leaders, certain elected officials and former presidents and vice presidents.

Will anyone challenge Ms. Harris?

Even before Biden announced his decision, Democrats floated California Governor Gavin Newsom and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer as potential contenders in addition to Harris.

Yet some Democrats argued publicly, and many privately, that it would be a no-brainer to elevate the first woman, first Black woman and first person of south Asian descent to hold national office.

Given how important Black voters — and Black women especially — were to Mr. Biden’s nomination and his choice of Harris as running mate, it would be risky, to say the least, for Democrats to pass her over for a white nominee.

Democrats already faced historical headwinds before Mr. Biden’s withdrawal. Mr. Newsom and Mr. Whitmer, both of whom are white, and any other Democrat would also have to weigh the short-term and long-term benefits of challenging Harris now versus preserving goodwill for a future presidential primary.

Yet, fair or not, Ms. Harris also has not been viewed as an especially beloved or empowered vice president. The best scenario for her and Democrats is to quickly shore up support and project a united front.

Democrats could even go forward with their plans for an early virtual vote — a move they’d planned to make sure Mr. Biden was selected ahead of Ohio’s general election ballot deadline.

What happens to Biden’s campaign money?

Mr. Biden’s campaign recently reported $91 million cash on hand. Allied Democratic campaign committees brought the total at his disposal to more than $240 million. Campaign finance experts agree generally that Ms. Harris could control all those funds since the campaign was set up in her name as well as Mr. Biden’s.

If Democrats do nominate someone other than Ms. Harris, party accounts could still benefit the nominee, but the Biden-Harris account would have more restrictions. For example, legal experts say it could become an independent expenditure political action committee but not simply transfer its balance to a different nominee.

How will a vice-presidential nomination work?

The vice presidential nomination is always a separate convention vote. In routine years, the convention ratifies the choice of the nominee. If Ms. Harris closes ranks quickly, she could name her choice and have the delegates ratify it. In an extended fight, though, the vice presidency could become part of horse-trading — again, a return to conventions of an earlier era.

Can Republicans keep Harris off state ballots?

Any curveball during a U.S. presidential campaign is certain to produce a flurry of State and federal lawsuits in this hyper-partisan era, and some conservatives have threatened just that.

State laws, though, typically do not prescribe how parties choose their nominees for president. And some GOP figures – Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Alabama Governor Kay Ivey — have worked already this year to ensure their party did not deny Democrats’ routine ballot access.

Washington:

Donald Trump, in his acceptance speech today after presidential nomination at the Republican convention in Milwaukee, paid tribute to the man who lost his life during the shooting at his rally in Pennsylvania last week.

In his first public address since surviving an assassination attempt, Trump honoured Corey Comperatore, the firefighter who was killed by the shooter. He solemnly presented the man’s helmet and uniform, kissing them in homage before a hushed crowd. Trump hailed Corey as a “highly respected former fire chief” and recounted how he “lost his life selflessly acting as a human shield to protect others”. He asked for a moment of silence to honour the firefighter.

Tragically, the shooter claimed the life of one of our fellow Americans, Corey Comperatore, and seriously wounded two other great warriors, David Dutch and James Copenhaver.

– President Donald J. Trump pic.twitter.com/6W04vbXSKA

— Team Trump (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@TeamTrump) July 19, 2024

Trump also paid his respects to those injured in the attack, referring to them as “dedicated Trumpsters”.

Last week, during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, the former US President was struck near the ear in an assassination attempt by a 20-year-old man.

Agents from the Secret Service, the law enforcement agency responsible for protecting US political leaders, swiftly intervened, rushing to the stage and escorting him quickly to a nearby vehicle.

The gunman and a bystander were killed, and two spectators were critically injured. The man was a 50-year-old firefighter Corey Comperatore.

Washington:

US President Joe Biden was reportedly coming closer to dropping out of the White House race Friday as allies including Barack Obama were said to have expressed concerns that he can no longer win the 2024 election.

The 81-year-old Democrat was holed up at his beach house with Covid as multiple US media reports said he was considering the future of his reelection bid amid mounting opposition within his party.

The New York Times cited several people close to Biden as saying they believe he has begun to accept that he may lose in November to Republican rival Donald Trump and may have to drop out, with one quoted as saying: “Reality is setting in.”

It quoted the person as saying it would not be a surprise if Biden soon endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him as the Democratic candidate.

Former president Obama meanwhile had reportedly told allies that Biden should “seriously consider the viability of his candidacy,” the Washington Post reported. His office did not comment.

The Axios news outlet separately quoted party figures as saying that Biden could drop out as soon as this weekend, while broadcaster NBC quoted a person close to Biden as saying: “We’re close to the end.”

Biden’s candidacy has been in peril for three weeks since a disastrous television debate against Trump.

His campaign however denied the reports and insisted he was staying in.

“He’s running for reelection. Baseless conjecture from anonymous sources isn’t a scoop,” campaign official T.J. Ducklo said on X.

Harris made no comment on the crisis in a speech in the battleground state of North Carolina but praised the president, saying the “contrast between Joe Biden and Donald Trump it’s like night and day.”

She also lashed out Trump’s new running mate J.D. Vance and said it was the “most existential, consequential and important election of our lifetime.”

– Covid symptoms –
While rival Trump prepares for his star turn at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee later Thursday, Biden finds himself in both personal and political isolation.

His personal doctor, Kevin O’Connor, said Thursday that Biden was still experiencing mild Covid symptoms and was taking the drug Paxlovid, but that his vital signs remain normal.

“He will continue to conduct the business of the American people,” O’Connor said in a letter released by the White House.

His Covid diagnosis came at the worst possible time for his campaign, forcing him to cut short a trip to Las Vegas and isolate at his holiday home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

Biden told reporters on Wednesday that he was “doing well” but was later seen looking frail as he slowly descended the steps of Air Force One.

The drumbeat of Democrats coming out against Biden is growing, with 20 members of the House of Representatives having openly called on him to quit.

The top Democrats in Congress, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both reportedly met with Biden in recent days to warn that his candidacy threatens his party’s prospects in November’s election.

Influential former House speaker Nancy Pelosi added to his woes by privately telling Biden he cannot win and could harm Democrats’ chances of recapturing the lower chamber, CNN and the New York Times reported.

White House National Security spokesman John Kirby meanwhile said Biden was being “kept up to speed” by his team despite the political turmoil and his illness.

However the split-screen with Donald Trump could not be more stark, with Trump set to formally accept the Republican nomination in Milwaukee as Biden hunkers down.

Republicans find themselves newly unified after former president Trump, who at 78 is just three years younger than Biden, survived an assassination attempt on Saturday that left him with a bandaged ear.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Usha Chilukuri Vance, the wife of JD Vance, at the Republican National Convention said that neither JD Vance nor she expected to find themselves in this position on Thursday. “But it’s hard to imagine a more powerful example of the American Dream,” she added, introducing her husband after Donald Trump named him his running mate for the US presidential polls.

Future Second Lady Usha Vance: “Neither J.D. nor I expected to find ourselves in this position — but it’s hard to imagine a more powerful example of the American Dream.”

FULL REMARKS: pic.twitter.com/JJgdJbem0H

— Team Trump (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@TeamTrump) July 18, 2024

Usha, born to immigrant parents from Andhra Pradesh, shared their story from the stage of the RNC. Recounting their first meeting and the journey that led them to this moment, she said “There was only one thing to do, to explain, from the heart, why I love and admire JD, why I stand here beside him today, and why he will make a great Vice President of the United States.”

She shared how they met at the law school, where JD was a “working-class student” who had “overcome childhood traumas” and served in Iraq as a Marine. “A tough Marine who had served in Iraq but whose idea of a good time was playing with puppies,” she said.

Usha shed light on the Ohio senator’s curious and enthusiastic approach to their differences when they first met, including his adaptation to her vegetarian diet and learning to cook Indian food from her mother. “Although he is a meat and potato kind of guy, he adapted to my vegetarian diet and learnt to cook Indian food from my mother,” she said.

JD and Usha Vance met at Yale Law School and married in 2014. The couple has three children together – Ewan, 6, Vivek, 4, and Mirabel, 2.

JD Vance also delivered a powerful speech at the RNC, talking about his roots in small-town Ohio and the economic challenges communities across the Rust Belt faced. He spoke about the struggles of small towns in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan and other states, where jobs have been sent overseas and children have been sent to war.

He vowed to be a champion for these forgotten communities, promising to never forget his humble beginnings. “I promise you this: I will be a vice president who never forgets where he came from,” JD said.

“To the people of Middletown, Ohio, and all the forgotten communities in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, and every corner of our nation, I will fight for you, I will stand with you, and I will never forget the struggles we face.”