Second lady Usha Vance took a tumble while walking down the stairs of a helicopter with her and Vice President JD Vance’s newborn son in her arms.
Usha, 40, had 11-week-old son Alec strapped to her chest while at Joint Base Andrews in Prince George’s County, Maryland, on Monday, October 5, per a video shared via X.
She was seen holding onto the banister as she nearly fell forward on one of the staircase steps. Usha ultimately regained her footing, turning to the banister before pivoting back and smiling at a nearby officer and patting Alec on the back.
The mother-son duo then waited for JD, 42, to exit the aircraft with 4-year-old daughter Mirabel. The couple are also the parents of sons Ewan, 9, and Vivek, 6.
Usha and the children were joining JD on a trip to Anchorage, Alaska, where he spoke at a Republican National Committee rally to support Sen. Dan Sullivan. Usha and JD welcomed their fourth child in July.
“We are excited to announce that our baby boy, Alec Neel Vance, was born this morning. Usha and the baby are happy and healthy, and our kids are overjoyed to meet their little brother,” the pair said in a joint statement shared via X.
“The incredible military doctors and staff members of Walter Reed Medical Center and the White House Medical Unit have been a blessing,” the announcement continued. “We are deeply thankful for all they have done for our family.”
Alec is the first baby born to a sitting vice president in more than 150 years, succeeding Vice President Schuyler Colfax and wife Ellen Wade Colfax’s child Schuyler Colfax III, during Ulysses S. Grant’s presidency in 1870.
In September, Usha made headlines when she shared that their newborn son has a secret service detail — which she said is “sort of an absurdity because he’s always attached to me.”
“It’s different to wonder whether people are watching when you’re struggling with some of the things that any parent of any newborn struggles with,” Usha said of raising Alec in the public eye. “But people have been really wonderful about it.”
She continued, “Either they don’t notice me because I think it’s sort of an unexpected thing to be in their bagel shop or coffee shop or library or whatever — they’re not looking for me in that kind of environment. And when they have noticed, it’s only been to be congratulatory, say something sweet about the baby, that sort of thing.”
