A war of words between the vice president’s family and a Michigan Senate candidate boiled over this week when JD Vance’s mother threatened physical retaliation against the man who mocked her grandchildren’s race.
Beverly Vance Aikins sat down with conservative commentator Tomi Lahren for an episode of the “Fearless” podcast, produced by OutKick, where she unloaded on Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed.
Calling him out by name, Vance Aikins didn’t mince words. “I think that man’s an idiot,” she told Lahren.
The feud stretches back to an April podcast appearance El-Sayed made on “The Allen Analysis Show,” where he mocked the marriage between JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance.
During that appearance, El-Sayed speculated about Usha Vance’s private thoughts, saying, “What do you think is going through Usha’s head when [the vice president] talks? She’s like, ‘Damn, I have to sleep with him,’” El-Sayed said.
He didn’t stop there, adding a crude reference to her pregnancy: “I guess she’s pregnant so something is happening.”
El-Sayed’s comments then shifted toward the couple’s children, forecasting a painful family reckoning down the road.
“Can you imagine, he’s got brown kids, at some point he’s going to have a really awkward conversation with his kids, like, you made your career hating people who are different,” he said.
He doubled down days later, telling audiences that “JD Vance has brown kids who he thinks are less American than everyone else.”
El-Sayed’s provocations extended even to Vance’s late grandfather — Vance Aikins’ own father — whom he implied might have disapproved of Usha Vance because she is Indian-American.
That jab came in reply to a Vance appearance in Ohio, where the vice president invoked his grandfather while accusing El-Sayed of framing criticism of Sharia law as inherently racist.
El-Sayed fired back on the social media platform X with a pointed jab of his own: “So do we think JD is taking Usha with him back in time to meet Papaw, or no…”
On the podcast, Vance Aikins made clear the attacks on her grandchildren struck a personal nerve, describing an unshakable bond with all of them.
“Those are my babies. I love those babies and would do anything for any of them,” she said.
Her defense extended just as fiercely to her daughter-in-law, whom she described in glowing terms.
“And I love Usha as if she were my own daughter. She’s one of the best, most genuine people I’ve ever met. And she loves my son, and she’s a good mother,” Vance Aikins said.
She insisted she typically brushes off comments like El-Sayed’s, telling Lahren, “And I don’t pay attention to people like that.”
But under further questioning, Vance Aikins conceded that the remarks do get under her skin, even if she doesn’t plan to act on her anger.
“I mean, it makes me mad, honestly, because he doesn’t know JD and he doesn’t know, you know, what type of person he is, and I do, but in the long run, I’m not going to do anything about it,” she said.
Her most eyebrow-raising comment came moments later, when she admitted to entertaining the idea of a physical confrontation with the candidate.
“I mean, you know, I’d probably punch the guy if I ever seen him, and then that would get me in trouble — So, I’ll just go with the flow,” she added.
El-Sayed, a former Detroit public health official, is currently campaigning for Michigan’s open Senate seat against Republican opponent Mike Rogers in one of the nation’s most closely watched races.
His campaign has leaned heavily into confrontational rhetoric aimed at the Trump administration, with the vice president becoming a frequent target of his criticism.
Neither El-Sayed’s campaign nor any spokesperson for the Vance family had issued further comment following the podcast interview at the time of publication.
The Michigan Senate contest remains a top target for both parties heading into the election, with the seat viewed as pivotal to the balance of power in Washington.
