The Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff is Harris' supporter, confidant and ally
Doug Emhoff, the husband of presidential candidate-elect Kamala Harris, is unfazed by Donald Trump's attacks and stands firmly by his wife's side in her historic campaign.
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- Doug Emhoff, Kamala Harris' husband, is convincingly backing his wife as a potential First Gentleman.
- Over the past four years, Emhoff has established himself as the first "Second Gentleman".
- He actively campaigns for gender equality and against anti-Semitism.
- Emhoff plays a central role in his wife's election campaign.
- His commitment could be a preview of how he would act as First Gentleman in a possible Harris administration.
"I may support my wife, Kamala Harris, who is running for President of the United States. Let me tell you, we will win this election," Doug Emhoff told staffers.
In view of the large number of negative posts on social media by former President and presidential candidate Donald Trump aimed at Doug Emhoff's wife, Vice President Kamala Harris, the 59-year-old reacted in a relaxed manner. Trump had raged on social media: "Lying Kamala Harris ruins everything she touches!"
"That's all he's got?" he commented on Tuesday on the attacks on Harris, the new Democratic presidential candidate-elect. His reaction gives an insight into the dynamic between Harris and Emhoff: Emhoff is confidently taking on a supportive role for his wife, who wants to become the most powerful person in the US in November.
Wrist tattoo
Douglas Emhoff was born in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in New Jersey, with his parents Mike and Barbara, and siblings Jamie and Andy. During his youth, the family moved to the Los Angeles area. The Emhoff was then married to film producer Kerstin Emhoff from 1992 to 2008.
In August, Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff will celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary. Only a year passed between their first meeting and their wedding. In 2013, mutual friends arranged a blind date for them.
And they were right: Kamala Harris and Douglas "Doug" Emhoff are a dream couple. Emhoff is the father of Cole (30) and Ella Emhoff (25), two grown-up children from his marriage to Kerstin Emhoff, whose initials he has tattooed on his wrist.
Cole and Ella, who are named after jazz musician John Coltrane and jazz musician Ella Fitzgerald, call the child-free Kamala Harris "Momala" and describe the co-parenting relationship that exists between father Doug, her mother Kerstin Emhoff and "Momala" Kamala Harris as very loving.
Potentially the first First Gentleman
Doug Emhoff earned a Juris Doctor in Law from the University of Southern California. He gave up a decades-long career as an attorney specializing in media, entertainment and intellectual property to instead teach law at Georgetown University and travel the U.S. with and for Kamala Harris.
Emhoff has had the last four years to get used to being the first runner-up - the first "second gentleman". With the rapid rise of his wife, he now faces a new challenge, as CNN reports: becoming the potential First Gentleman to the first female US President.
Emhoff has developed his own policy portfolio over the past three and a half years, focusing on advancing gender equity, access to abortion for women, the need for family planning resources for men, and promoting justice and equality in the legal system.
Rethinking masculinity
While Emhoff supports his wife in her quest to become the country's first female president, he said in a 2022 CNN interview about masculinity and gender dynamics that he wants to destigmatize the role of spouses.
"I'm here because I'm her husband. I'm here to support them. Masculinity is about loving your family, taking care of your family and being there for your family."
Emhoff is also making history as the first Jewish spouse of a female president or vice president. His efforts to combat anti-Semitism have taken on a new urgency in light of Israel's war on Gaza.
"I take this very seriously," he said during an interview on Yom Kippur last year, calling on Jewish Americans to "be proud to be Jewish - and just enjoy it."
Supportive spouse in the East Wing
Emhoff's time as Second Gentleman could serve as a template for how he would approach the East Wing should his wife be elected: as a supportive spouse with a professional role of her own and leading presidential initiatives.
Like current First Lady Jill Biden before him, Emhoff has already learned the structure of the White House: how to live with full-time security or navigate a ceremonial leadership role that catapults him onto the world stage.