From blind date to ‘First Gentleman’? Kamala Harris’ husband woos Chicago
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
For the Kamala Harris campaign, Mr Doug Emhoff’s primetime address will play a crucial role in familiarising Americans with his wife.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
CHICAGO - He met Ms Kamala Harris on a blind date, and on Aug 20 Mr Doug Emhoff tried to convince Americans to love his wife too after the country’s equally whirlwind introduction to the Democratic nominee.
The first “Second Gentleman” in US history wooed the Democratic National Convention in Chicago with a speech that highlighted the human side of the party’s presidential nominee.
Delegates chanted “Doug” as the 59-year-old – who gave up his high-flying legal career to support Ms Harris as vice-president – regaled them with the tale of how they met and how she then became the stepmother to his kids.
“I love you and I’m so proud of how you’re stepping up for all of us,” Mr Emhoff said.
And he said their personal history showed she was ready to be the country’s first female commander-in-chief – which would make him its first-ever First Gentleman.
“Kamala Harris was exactly the right person for me at an important time in my life. At this moment in this nation’s history she is exactly the right president.”
Ms Harris posted a picture of herself on Air Force Two, watching him speak while she returned from a rally in Milwaukee. “Love you Dougie,” she wrote.
“She did it for me and our family. Now that the country needs her, she’s showing you what we already know: She’s ready to lead, she brings both joy and toughness to this task, and she will be a great president who we will all be proud of.”
‘Heyyyy, it’s Doug’
The Harris campaign regards Mr Emhoff as something of a secret weapon, a ready-made speaker who can familiarise Americans with the vice-president after her rapid rise following Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the White House race
He has taken a very visible role as cheerleader-in-chief for his 59-year-old wife ever since Mr Biden first picked her as his running mate back in 2020.
More recently, the father-of-two has been her attack dog against Donald Trump as the Republican former president unleashes personal and racially tinged insults at the Democrat.
Mr Doug Emhoff (left), Ms Kamala Harris, and US President Joe Biden during the Democratic National Convention at the United Centr in Chicago, on Aug 19, 2024.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
But his speech in Chicago focused on the personal as much as the political.
As the crowd waved “Doug” signs, Mr Emhoff told the story of how he and Ms Harris were set up on a blind date by one of his legal clients.
The day after, Mr Emhoff called Ms Harris early in the morning, got her answerphone and “just started rambling. “Heyyyy, it’s Doug... I was trying to grab the words out of the air and just put them back in my mouth.”
Ms Harris, however, thought the message was “adorable”, saved it, and they married the following year. Now she plays the message to him every anniversary, he said.
“This Thursday will be our 10th wedding anniversary... that same night I’ll be hearing my wife Kamala Harris accept your nomination for President of the United States.”
‘Momala’
Their marriage made Ms Kamala Harris a stepmother to Mr Emhoff’s then-teenage children Cole and Ella – who both dubbed her “Momala”.
Mr Cole Emhoff introduced his father on stage, after narrating a video showing snapshots from Mr Emhoff’s life and gently ribbing his dad.
Cole said their “blended family wasn’t used to politics” but when Ms Harris became first a California senator and then vice-president, they all stepped up.
“It felt like Doug was a bit out of place on Capitol Hill, I thought, ‘What is my goofy dad doing here?’ But he embraced it.”
Mr Emhoff himself has admitted that it did not all come easily, especially when he took a leave of absence from his entertainment law job, which was earning him around US$1 million (S$1.3 million) a year.
Mr Biden helped him at the time, saying to him: “I know this must have been tough.”
Since then, Ms Harris has called Mr Emhoff her rock as she blazed a trail as the first female, Black and South Asian vice-president in US history.
He too set a milestone, becoming the first Jewish spouse of a US president or vice-president.
Under the Biden administration, Mr Emhoff took on an increasingly high-profile role, giving speeches calling out anti-Semitism after the Oct 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel
He also performed ceremonial duties, including leading the US delegation at the closing of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
But for one person at least, Mr Emhoff does not take the back seat.
“My mother is the only person in the whole world who thinks Kamala is the lucky one for marrying me,” he quipped. AFP
