A war of words has erupted online between far-right activist Laura Loomer and journalist Mehdi Hasan after controversial remarks involving US Vice President JD Vance, his wife Usha Vance, and New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.
The exchange began when Hasan criticised Vance for mocking Mamdani&rsquo;s emotional recount of anti-Muslim discrimination in the aftermath of 9/11. &ldquo;Imagine being married to a Brown woman and having mixed-race kids, and then publicly mocking other Brown people as they talk emotionally about their experiences of racism,&rdquo; Hasan wrote on X.
Hasan was referring to Vance&rsquo;s comments about Mamdani&rsquo;s speech, in which the candidate recalled how his aunt stopped taking the subway after 9/11 for fear of being targeted while wearing a hijab. Responding to that account, Vance reportedly said, &ldquo;According to Zohran, the real victim of 9/11 was his auntie who got some allegedly bad looks.&rdquo;
Hasan hit back sharply, saying, &ldquo;Vance is just a bad person.&rdquo;
Loomer, a vocal Trump ally, jumped into the debate and her comments have since sparked outrage. &ldquo;JD Vance&rsquo;s wife isn&rsquo;t a Muslim,&rdquo; she wrote on X. &ldquo;If she was, he never would have been Vice President because MAGA isn&rsquo;t going to ever support a Muslim being in the White House. Do you think Hindus and Muslims are the same?&rdquo;
She continued, &ldquo;Usha Vance is an accomplished Hindu American. Our problem isn&rsquo;t with brown people. It&rsquo;s with Islam.&rdquo;
Vance&rsquo;s wife, Usha Vance, is of Indian origin and a practicing Hindu, an accomplished attorney who has largely remained private despite her husband&rsquo;s political rise.
The controversy traces back to Mamdani&rsquo;s remarks during an event outside a Bronx mosque, where he spoke about the &ldquo;indignities&rdquo; Muslims faced post-9/11. &ldquo;These are lessons so many Muslim New Yorkers have been taught,&rdquo; Mamdani said, adding that public figures continue to weaponize fear against the community.
Loomer&rsquo;s tirade did not stop there. She later told Hasan to &ldquo;go back to the Islamic country&rdquo; he came from. Hasan, who was born in the UK to Indian-origin parents, swiftly corrected her: &ldquo;India is where my parents were born and it is not an Islamic country.&rdquo;
The exchange has since gone viral, reflecting the deep political and cultural divides at play in the US &mdash; where religion, race, and identity continue to fuel fierce online battles, often spilling into real-world discourse.

Trump Ally Sparks Row Over JD Vance’s Wife

Laura Loomer’s “Hindu, not Muslim” remark ignites feud with journalist Mehdi Hasan

Trump Ally Sparks Row Over JD Vance’s Wife

Laura Loomer’s “Hindu, not Muslim” remark ignites feud with journalist Mehdi Hasan

October 26, 2025 | 17:56 IST