Usha Vance

Tuesday

Daniel McCarthy

Is the religious right shifting?

In 2021, for the first time in 1,400-odd years, Britain ceased to have a Christian majority. The United Kingdom, the political entity of which the island of Great Britain has been a part since 1801, has had its share of not-quite-Christian prime ministers over the years, with a handful of agnostics and quiet atheists. But in 2022, for the first time, the UK had a prime minister who practiced a non-Christian religion – and Hinduism had the distinction of claiming the first post-Christian head of state, Rishi Sunak. The West’s ethnic and religious foundations have already shifted in our great cities It may be some time before an American president is Hindu. Already, however, there are several prominent Hindus in the Trump orbit and near the top of the Republican party.

religious

Friday

Cockburn

J.D. Vance’s summer plans in the Cotswolds, the ‘Hamptons of England’

Where does a good America First hillbilly like to spend his summer? Cockburn would not have thought the answer was the Cotswolds — that glossy patch of the English countryside where limey aristos and media darlings drink overpriced rose with plutocratic American slebs. And yet your correspondent hears from almost impeccable sources that Vice President J.D. Vance and his wife Usha are looking for properties to rent in the area. Vance is supposedly making enquiries for a country pad, possibly ahead of Trump's state visit to the UK. One Oxfordshire property was unable to help because it is playing host to a literary festival at around the same time. But another filthy rich Anglo is said to be considering offering his own home to the Second Family.

cotswolds summer

Tuesday

Eva Terry

A fireside chat with Usha Vance

Washington, DC Usha Vance is on a mission. This year's low reading scores have shocked the White House into action – so they have placed the Yale-educated Second Lady at the helm of the reading recovery ship. But as well as addressing faltering childhood literacy, Vance has a host of other tasks to complete for the Trump administration. Vance described her role in Trump 2.0 at the annual US-India Strategic Partnership Forum hosted at the Waldorf Astoria in DC Tuesday. It includes reading challenges, the Special Olympics and US-India relations – fueled by her children's interactions with the country's Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The conference followed the launch of the "Second Lady Summer Reading Challenge.

usha vance

Friday

Cockburn

DC mayor booed by Nats and Phillies fans

Hill Country bye-bye-Q Cockburn wishes farewell to karaoke mainstay and watches baseball fans fight DC is evolving. Cockburn honored the memory of Hill Country Barbecue Karaoke on Wednesday night, ahead of the downtown hotspot closing its doors for good today. No tickets were available at the door and the line snaked throughout the restaurant as Hill staffers, hacks and college students pored in for one last singalong. The live band whipped through staples such as “Mr. Brightside,” “Redneck Woman” and “Before He Cheats” (twice). A number of veterans also took to the stage: one former host told the crowd that he’d had his first kiss with his now-wife upstairs.

hill country barbecue mayor

Friday

Cockburn

Vance booed at Kennedy Center performance

You wouldn’t expect the Kennedy Center to exactly love J.D. Vance. But that doesn’t make the audience’s reaction to him showing up there on Thursday any less extraordinary. Vance went to the Kennedy Center with his wife Usha, to watch a performance by the National Symphony Orchestra, perhaps expecting a genteel evening at one of Washington’s most high-brow venues. Instead, the audience acted like a mob, booing him as he took his seat in a box. Boos for JD Vance as he enters tonight’s concert at the Kennedy Center pic.twitter.com/IWTsJUWjCR— Andrew Roth (@Andrew__Roth) March 13, 2025 The crowd’s performance is perhaps explained by the President’s recent, er, changes to how the Kennedy Center runs.