Overview
- On the I’ve Had It podcast, Joy Reid speculated that Vice President JD Vance could leave his wife, Usha Vance, for Erika Kirk to better appeal to the MAGA base.
- Reid argued that MAGA voters would reject a Republican leader with a "brown Hindu" spouse and described the movement as driven by hostility toward non‑white immigrants.
- The discussion referenced a widely shared clip of Vance and Erika Kirk hugging at a Turning Point USA event that some online commenters described as unusually intimate.
- Erika Kirk later dismissed the speculation in an interview with Megyn Kelly, saying critics of the hug "need a hug" and describing touch as her "love language."
- Fox News said it sought comment from the White House, Vance’s team and Turning Point USA and reported no immediate responses, while noting Reid now hosts a YouTube show after her MSNBC program was canceled.