Vance Condemns Ohio Newspaper’s Political Cartoon About His Indian American Wife

JD Vance, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Ohio, and his wife, Usha Vance, wave to supporters after winning the Ohio Republican Senate primary election at an election night event at Duke Energy Convention Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, on May 3, 2022. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio–At a campaign stop in Middletown, the city midway between Cincinnati and Dayton where he grew up, JD Vance paused for a moment when an audience member asked him a question about a subject that is touchy for the Republican U.S. Senate candidate.

“Somebody sent this to me a couple of days ago,” Vance said as he scrolled through his phone at the Oct. 19 event. “This is a cartoon that ran in the Cleveland Plain Dealer ... and here it is. It’s me and Tim Ryan on the debate stage together. He’s wearing a Cleveland Guardians jersey, and I’m wearing the San Francisco Giants jersey, which [is] kind of funny, right?