US Vice-President J.D. Vance has defended his hopes that his wife Usha, who was raised as a Hindu, converts to Christianity.

A fervent Catholic who himself converted in 2019, Vance said on Friday that pushback against his remarks reeks of “anti-Christian bigotry”.

The 41-year-old was asked about raising their three children in an interfaith marriage at a Turning Point USA event honouring assassinated right-wing activist Charlie Kirk at the University of Mississippi on Wednesday.

“Do I hope eventually that she is somehow moved by the same thing that I was moved in by church? Yeah, I honestly do wish that,” he said.

“But if she doesn’t, then God says everybody has free will, and so that doesn’t cause a problem for me.”

Vance, who has been tipped by US President Donald Trump as a likely candidate in the 2028 US election, then responded to criticism of his remarks on social media.