The comments came a few days after Senator JD Vance, the vice-presidential candidate from Ohio, rejected far-right white supremacist Nick Fuentes, who had recently targeted Vance’s wife, Usha Vance, because of her Indian heritage.Vance stressed that the best way to handle such attacks was to “ignore” them.
Fuentes, who had previously dined with former President Trump at Mar-a-Lago in 2022, directed his criticism at Vance and his family following Vance’s decision to join Trump’s re-election campaign the previous month. Fuentes questioned Vance’s commitment to white identity by pointing to his marriage to an Indian woman and their child’s name, Vivek.
Responding to these remarks on CBS News’s “Face the Nation,” Vance stated that such views had “no place in the MAGA movement.” He said, “Donald Trump has also criticised this person. Look, I think the guy’s a total loser. I absolutely disavow him. But if you ask me what I care more about, it’s not personal attacks but rather government policies that discriminate based on race. That’s my real concern.” Vance also emphasized the importance of ignoring such provocateurs, believing that “not feeding the trolls” would eventually diminish their influence.
Although Vance did not immediately condemn Fuentes’s remarks, he addressed the white supremacist attacks against his wife during an interview with Megyn Kelly, expressing deep love for her and pride in her achievements. He acknowledged the difficulties they faced due to her heritage but underscored their strong relationship.
Trump’s 2022 meeting with Fuentes sparked widespread criticism, even within his own party. The meeting, which also included rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, who later claimed to have upset Trump by suggesting a vice-presidential partnership in 2024, further fuelled the controversy. The Justice Department had identified Fuentes as a white supremacist, notorious for his racist and antisemitic rhetoric, while Ye had also faced backlash for antisemitic remarks.