Vice President JD Vance has criticized CBS News for “harassing” his mother-in-law in order to highlight apparent contradictions between his administration’s stance on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and his family connections.
The controversy stems from a CBS News article that spotlighted Lakshmi Chilukuri, the provost of the University of California San Diego’s Sixth College, who is also Vance’s mother-in-law and the mother of Second Lady Usha Vance. The article, titled “She advanced DEI at her university. Her son-in-law, Vice President JD Vance, wants to end it nationwide,” detailed Chilukuri’s work promoting DEI initiatives at the university.
According to CBS News, Chilukuri “helped create a pilot course on race, ethnicity, and gender in biology and medicine, served on the university’s biological sciences diversity committee, and has written proudly of her school’s commitment to diversity.”
The article highlighted the contrast between Chilukuri’s professional work and the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle DEI programs in federal agencies, academia, and corporations – initiatives that Vice President Vance has vocally supported.
In response to the story, Vance issued a statement to CBS News expressing his displeasure with their reporting approach.
Vance didn’t hold back in his response to CBS News, clarifying that he strongly opposes DEI and supports the administration’s efforts to dismantle it. At the same time, he made it clear that his love for his mother-in-law isn’t tied to their political differences. He acknowledged that they don’t share the same views on DEI but dismissed it as a typical family disagreement—something most Americans deal with and move past. What angered him was what he saw as CBS crossing the line. In his view, they weren’t just reporting a story but deliberately dragging his mother-in-law into the spotlight, to go after President Trump.
Vance made it clear that, at the end of the day, what matters to him isn’t politics—it’s family. He said he focuses on Chilukuri’s kindness and the love she brings into their lives, describing her as a devoted mother and an incredible grandmother to the people he cares about most.
Since taking office in January 2025, the Trump administration has made eliminating DEI programs a central policy initiative. President Trump has signed multiple executive orders to remove DEI initiatives from the federal bureaucracy, arguing that such programs undermine meritocracy.
The administration’s actions have extended beyond federal agencies to target educational institutions. In February, the Trump administration issued guidance giving schools and universities a 14-day ultimatum to eliminate DEI initiatives or risk losing federal funding. The guidance cited the 2023 Supreme Court decision that barred race as a factor in college admissions, claiming that educational institutions cannot “separate or segregate students based on race” or “distribute benefits or burdens based on race.”
This aggressive approach to DEI programs has created significant uncertainty and concern in academia. According to reporting from Inside Higher Education, professors have reported removing references to critical race theory from their biographies and avoiding teaching related courses due to fear of harassment and retaliation. Some faculty members have engaged in “anticipatory obedience” by scrubbing DEI-related language from university websites, while others have taken a more defiant stance.
Chilukuri’s work at UC San Diego starkly contrasts with the administration’s position. As the provost of UCSD’s Sixth College, Chilukuri has been recognized for her leadership in developing courses and programs that address topics related to race, ethnicity, and gender within science and medicine. She has been actively involved in efforts to promote equity, inclusion, and diversity at the university, making these values a central part of her work.
The Times Higher Education has portrayed the Trump administration’s policies on universities as a full-on assault, mainly targeting DEI programs and federal research funding. According to the publication, the administration’s push to dismantle DEI initiatives has left faculty and students anxious and uncertain about the future. Many within higher education view these actions as more than just policy changes—they see them as part of a much bigger cultural fight over the direction of academia and the role of diversity in education.
Civil rights organizations have expressed concern about the administration’s approach to DEI. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has outlined what it sees as three key strategies the Trump administration is pursuing: censoring academic discussions of race and gender-based discrimination, abandoning civil rights enforcement on behalf of historically marginalized groups, and marshaling federal power to increase right-wing attacks on equal opportunity initiatives.
This is not the first time Vance has publicly defended the administration’s stance on DEI. In February, following a plane crash in Washington, D.C., Vance supported President Trump’s comments linking DEI hiring practices within the Federal Aviation Administration to air safety concerns. Vance argued that the Biden administration’s “DEI regime” led to not hiring air traffic controllers based on merit.
The CBS News article noted that even CBS’s parent company, Paramount, has changed its DEI policies since the Trump administration took office, ceasing hiring goals related to race, ethnicity, sex, or gender.
CBS News has not publicly responded to Vance’s criticism of their reporting on his mother-in-law.
