Beverly Vance Aikins, the mother of Vice President JD Vance, has publicly criticized Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, calling him an "idiot" and stating she would "probably punch the guy" if she encountered him following his remarks about the Second Family.
Vance Aikins expressed her strong disapproval of El-Sayed's comments, particularly his references to her grandchildren as "brown kids" and his suggestion that there is an "awkward" aspect to her son's marriage and family life with Second Lady Usha Vance.
"Those are my babies. I love those babies and would do anything for any of them," Vance Aikins said in an interview on Tomi Lahren's "Fearless" podcast. "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."
While Vance Aikins initially stated she "laughs-off" El-Sayed's attacks, she admitted the comments affected her. "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," she said. "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."
El-Sayed, who is campaigning against Republican Mike Rogers for the Michigan Senate seat, made his initial remarks about Usha Vance and her children during an appearance on "The Allen Analysis Show" podcast. He commented on Usha Vance's perceived reaction to her husband's political stances and suggested that JD Vance would eventually have "an awkward conversation" with his children about his past criticisms of different groups.
El-Sayed also posted on X, formerly Twitter, that "JD Vance has brown kids who he thinks are less American than everyone else." He further insinuated that Vance's late grandfather might not have approved of his marriage to Usha Vance, who is Indian-American, referencing an event where JD Vance invoked his grandfather while discussing Sharia law.