Usha Vance Responds to El-Sayed's Jab About JD Vance's Grandfather
Second Lady Usha Vance addressed comments by Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed that questioned her acceptance by JD Vance's family.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

Usha Vance Responds After Abdul El-Sayed Criticizes JD Vance’s Family
Photograph: Internewscast (embedded from source)
What this story says
- Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed suggested Vice President JD Vance's family might not have accepted his wife, Usha Vance.
- El-Sayed's comment was made in response to JD Vance referencing his late maternal grandfather, James 'Papaw' Vance.
- Usha Vance responded by saying she laughed and that the children JD Vance's parents raised were always loving.
- JD Vance had previously criticized El-Sayed's past remarks linking criticism of Sharia law to white supremacy.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 13 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 2 of the 15 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .
Trust
42/100
Craft
61/100
Hype
41/100
15 sources · methodology
Thin on the left so far
None of the 13 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
Second Lady Usha Vance responded to remarks made by Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who implied that Vice President JD Vance's family might not have embraced her. El-Sayed's comment followed JD Vance's reference to his late maternal grandfather, James 'Papaw' Vance, during a criticism of El-Sayed's political stances.
In response to El-Sayed's statement, "So do we think JD is taking Usha with him back in time to meet Papaw, or no…", Usha Vance stated during an appearance on Fox News that she "kind of laughed." She added that while she never met JD Vance's maternal grandparents, she knew and loved the children they raised, describing them as "incredibly loving." Usha Vance also noted her close relationship with JD Vance's maternal aunt, whom she considers like a second mother, and expressed a desire to have met his grandparents.
Disagreement on El-Sayed's intent
Reports differ on the interpretation of El-Sayed's comment. Internewscast stated the remark "appeared to suggest that Vance’s Indian-American wife might have faced hostility from his white Midwestern grandfather." The New York Post described it as "seemingly in reference to the second lady’s Indian ethnicity." Voz.us reported El-Sayed questioned "the acceptance that the vice president's wife would have had in her spouse's family environment because of her origins."
What the coverage left out
None of the right-rated reports below mention JD Vance's past remarks linking criticism of Sharia law to white supremacy, which was the initial point of contention that preceded El-Sayed's comment. The centre-rated report from Internewscast did include this detail.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 5 times, most recently on 27 Aug 2026, 20:15, and will add the sides that appear.
How other outlets pictured it
Which photograph to run is each newsroom’s own choice. The leaning beside a name is that outlet’s published rating, not a claim that the pictures divide along it. Every picture is shown from the outlet’s own server and links to the article it ran in.

Wedding descends into chaos as families with bad blood brawl at reception
New York Post — embedded from source
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated left has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Centre
1 rated outlet
- The centre-rated report from Internewscast led with Usha Vance's response to Abdul El-Sayed's criticism of JD Vance's family. It detailed El-Sayed's comment about meeting 'Papaw' and Usha Vance's measured reply, including her statement that she laughed and loved the children JD Vance's parents raised. The report also noted that critics accused El-Sayed of targeting a politician's spouse and that some called him a "racist creep."
Right
12 rated outlets
- The right-rated reports focused on Usha Vance's response to what they characterised as a "racist" or "racial swipe" from Abdul El-Sayed. Headlines from outlets including the New York Post, American Wire News, and Bizpac Review used phrases like "perfect response" and "answers with class." Many reports highlighted El-Sayed's comment about JD Vance's grandfather and Usha Vance's reply that she "kind of laughed" and that the children JD Vance's parents raised were loving. Several outlets, such as The Blaze and Analyzing America, also referenced JD Vance's prior criticism of El-Sayed's remarks linking Sharia law criticism to white supremacy.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Usha Vance Responds to El-Sayed's Jab About JD Vance's Grandfather?
- Of the 13 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 0% are rated left, 8% are rated centre, 92% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 15. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Usha Vance Responds to El-Sayed's Jab About JD Vance's Grandfather left or right?
- The story itself is neither. What can be counted is who has covered it, and 92% of the 13 rated outlets on it are rated right — so far this is a story carried mostly by the right. Coverage is still arriving and that can change, which is why the figure is dated rather than fixed.
- Is the coverage of Usha Vance Responds to El-Sayed's Jab About JD Vance's Grandfather biased?
- Usha Vance Responds to El-Sayed's Jab About JD Vance's Grandfather is one event reported by 15 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Usha Vance Responds to El-Sayed's Jab About JD Vance's Grandfather?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Usha Vance Responds to El-Sayed's Jab About JD Vance's Grandfather?
- 15 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- What did Abdul El-Sayed say about JD Vance's family?
- Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed suggested that Vice President JD Vance's family might not have embraced his wife, Usha Vance. El-Sayed's comment was made in response to JD Vance referencing his late maternal grandfather, James 'Papaw' Vance.
- How did Usha Vance respond to El-Sayed's comments?
- Usha Vance stated she "kind of laughed" at the remark. She added that she loved the children JD Vance's parents raised, describing them as "incredibly loving," and expressed a wish to have met JD Vance's grandparents.
- What was the context for El-Sayed's comment?
- JD Vance had referenced his late maternal grandfather, James 'Papaw' Vance, while criticizing El-Sayed's past remarks that linked criticism of Sharia law to white supremacy. El-Sayed's comment about Usha Vance's acceptance by the family followed this exchange.
Read it at the source
15 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Centre
1Right
12- Still OK with a candidate who calls Sharia criticism ‘white supremacy’? (opens The Blaze in a new tab)
The Blaze — is The Blaze biased? Our profile of this outletOpinion
- El-Sayed takes racial swipe at Usha Vance — she answers with class (opens Bizpac Review in a new tab)
Bizpac Review — is Bizpac Review biased? Our profile of this outlet
- El-Sayed takes racial swipe at Usha Vance — she answers with class (opens American Wire News in a new tab)
American Wire News — is American Wire News biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Abdul El-Sayed’s Sharia Law Defense Sparks Conservative Backlash (opens Independent Journal Review in a new tab)
Independent Journal Review — is Independent Journal Review biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Abdul El-Sayed Attacks JD Vance’s Marriage Amid Sharia Law Feud (opens Analyzing America in a new tab)
Analyzing America — is Analyzing America biased? Our profile of this outlet
- "They Show Their True Face": Usha Vance Disarms the Personal Innuendo of Socialist Candidate Abdul El-Sayed (opens voz.us in a new tab)
- America’s Wonderful Second Lady Usha Vance Issues Perfect Response to Abdul El-Sayed’s Race-Baiting Remark About Her and VP JD Vance * The Gateway Pundit * by Cullen Linebarger (opens The Gateway Pundit in a new tab)
The Gateway Pundit — is The Gateway Pundit biased? Our profile of this outletOpinion
- 'I Kind of Laughed': SLOTUS Usha Vance’s Gracious Reply to Stepstool Abdul El-Sayed’s Low Blow (opens Twitchy in a new tab)
Show 4 more
- Second lady Usha Vance fires back at pointed jab from Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed – Democratic Accent (opens democraticaccent.com in a new tab)
democraticaccent.com — is democraticaccent.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Second lady Usha Vance fires back at pointed jab from Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed (opens Fox News in a new tab)
- Usha Vance has perfect response to Abdul El-Sayed’s ‘racist’ attack on her and JD (opens New York Post in a new tab)
New York Post — is New York Post biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Usha Vance Has Perfect Response to El-Sayed's Sneering Attacks on Her Family (opens RedState in a new tab)
RedState — is RedState biased? Our profile of this outletOpinion
Not rated
2- Usha Vance Responds to Abdul El-Sayed's Comments on JD Family Background (opens NewsFinale in a new tab)
NewsFinale — is NewsFinale biased? Our profile of this outlet
- America’s Wonderful Second Lady Usha Vance Issues Perfect Response to Abdul El-Sayed’s Race-Baiting Remark About Her and VP JD Vance - Politics, Policy, Political Views (opens Politics, Policy, Political News in a new tab)
How did this read?
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