As Kamala Harris stays on track to become the first female president of the United States, her lawyer husband Doug Emhoff could make history of his own.
Emhoff will become America’s first ever First Gentleman if Harris wins the presidency in the November election.
It comes after he dumped his 30-year-long career as an entertainment lawyer to help Harris pursue her own political ambitions.
He has since been named ‘the internet’s favorite male feminist’ and has given interviews about the importance of men supporting the women in their lives.
Harris’s relationship with Emhoff was pushed into the spotlight last night when he delivered a rousing, yet romantic speech supporting her at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
She was preparing to be formally nominated as the Democrat presidential nominee by delegates at the event.
Doug Emoff and Kamala Harris pictured at their wedding in 2014. They are due to celebrate their 10th anniversary on Thursday
Doug Emhoff speaks on stage during the second day of the Democratic National Convention
Harris’s and Emhoff’s wider family around the dinner table with the couple seated at either end
Although Harris could not be at the convention for Emhoff’s speech, she sent him a heartwarming message of support.
‘Love you, Dougie’, the Vice President posted on X with a photo of her watching him entertain the crowd in Chicago.
Emhoff was a relatively unknown figure when Harris became Vice President in 2020 but he has used his new platform to promote causes he cares deeply about.
He has visited family planning clinics to speak out in favor of reproductive rights – a topic that Harris has also integrated into her presidential bid.
But most of all he has embraced his Jewish identity to launch a campaign against rising levels of antisemitism in the United States.
Emhoff condemned the intimidation felt by Jewish students earlier this year when protests over the war in Gaza sprang up on US university campuses.
The 59-year-old has even been dubbed a ‘hot Jewish dad’ by Gen Z with Jewish-American publication The Forward publishing a feature on him in 2019.
Journalist Jenny Singer wrote in her piece about the 2020 presidential election: ‘There is only one in the bunch who can be described as a Hot Jewish Dad.
‘Only one future First Gentleman is a Brooklyn-born bar mitzvah boy who grew up to become an actual nice Jewish lawyer.’
Emhoff, 59, and movie producer ex-wife Kerstin, 57, (second left) pictured together with their grown up children following their separation
Emhoff with his two children Cole and Ella when they were children
Emhoff and Vice President Harris pictured together arm in arm at an event
The post Harris shared on social media platform X of her watching Emhoff’s speech
Emhoff pictured with this two children from his first marriage, Ella and Cole. He has nicknamed Harris ‘Momala’
Emhoff met Harris met back in 2013 when one of his clients set them up on a blind date.
They decided to give it a go despite Emhoff leaving a bumbling voicemail on Harris’s phone at 8.30 one morning – a story which he told during his speech at the Democratic National Convention last night.
‘For generations, people have debated when to call the person you’re being set up with. Never in history has anyone suggested 8:30 am,’ Emhoff jokingly told the crowd.
‘I got Kamala’s voicemail; I just started rambling: ‘Hey it’s Doug. I’m on my way to an early meeting. Again, it’s Doug’, he continued.
‘I remember I was trying to grab the words out of the air and put them back in my mouth. And for what seemed like far too many minutes, I hung up.
‘By the way, Kamala saved that voicemail, and she makes me listen to it on every anniversary,’ he added.
The pair got married less than a year later in a ceremony that encompassed both Emhoff’s Jewish faith and Harris’s Indian heritage.
Harris has been heard affectionately calling her husband ‘Dougie,’ or ‘My Dougie’ throughout their marriage.
Emhoff (pictured when he was younger) was born in New York but spent his youth in New Jersey
Harris and Emhoff pictured with his two children from his first marriage, Cole and Ella
Emhoff (pictured when he was younger) pursued his dream of working in entertainment law for 30 years
Harris has been heard affectionately calling her husband ‘Dougie,’ or ‘My Dougie’ throughout their marriage. Pictured: The couple embracing each other on vacation
Harris and Emhoff pictured cooking together in a video shared on Emhoff’s X account
She has also taken on the role of step-mother, or Momala, to Emhoff’s two children from his first marriage, Cole and Ella.
The 59-year-old has previously spoken out about how Harris has cherished the kids, even calling them while she has been out on the campaign trail.
Emhoff said in his speech at the convention last night: ‘That’s Kamala. Those kids are her priorities, and that scene was a perfect map of her heart.
‘She’s always been there for our children and I know she’ll be there for yours too.’
However, Emhoff’s personal life has not been without criticism and he has had to address an affair in his first marriage that challenged his ‘loyal wife-guy image’.
DailyMail.com reported exclusively this month that Emhoff’s marriage to film producer Kerstin Emhoff fell apart after he had an affair with his young daughter’s teacher, Najen Naylor.
Emhoff later confirmed the illicit romance in a statement to CNN.
He said: ‘During my first marriage, Kerstin and I went through some tough times on account of my actions.
Second gentleman Doug Emhoff speaks on stage during the second day of the Democratic National Convention
Emhoff met Harris met back in 2013 when one of his clients set them up on a blind date
Emhoff gives his speech on the second day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago
‘I took responsibility, and in the years since, we worked through things as a family and have come out stronger on the other side.’
However, the affair has sparked accusations of hypocrisy from political commentators.
‘I’ve got to be honest, I don’t really give a s*** about Doug Emhoff and his first marriage,’ said former Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly on her podcast Monday.
‘What I do care about is his preaching and lecturing to the rest of us on what it means to be toxically masculine…’ she explained.
‘Is it toxic masculinity to eff around on your first wife with your children’s nanny and then get her pregnant?’ Kelly asked.
Emhoff was born in New York but spent his youth in New Jersey. He then moved to Los Angeles where we worked his dream job as an entertainment lawyer for 30 years.
Since his marriage to Harris nearly ten years ago, he has supported her through her 2016 Senate run, her 2019 primary campaign for president and the 2020 election.
He stepped back from his job as a lawyer when she became Vice President and himself became the first man to hold the position of Second Gentleman – a role that he has embraced.
‘I understand that I am the first gentleman to hold this role,’ he said at the time, ‘and I certainly do not want to be last.’
