CHICAGO – Second gentleman Doug Emhoff took to the stage at the Democratic National Convention to talk about how strong is his wife, Vice President Kamala Harris.
“I love you and I’m so proud of how you’re stepping up for all of us,” Mr. Emhoff said on the United Center stage Tuesday evening. “That’s who she is. Whenever she’s needed, however she’s needed, Kamala rises to the occasion.”
“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,” he said.
Mr. Emhoff walked out onto the stage to the song “You Get What You Give” by the New Radicals after a campaign video narrated by his son, Cole Emhoff, that detailed his father’s life and the relationship between the family and Ms. Harris.
“We might not look like other families in the White House, but we are ready to represent all families in America,” Cole Emhoff, 29, said in the video.
The elder Mr. Emhoff shared fun tidbits about the start of his relationship with Ms. Harris, including a rambling voicemail he left for her the first time he called her, and that she plays it for him every anniversary.
He said through dates he found out what “drives” Ms. Harris.
“And it’s what you’ve seen over these past four years and especially these past four weeks. She finds joy in pursuing justice. She stands up to bullies just like my parents taught me to, and she likes to see people do well, but hates when they’re treated unfairly,” he said. “She believes this work requires a basic curiosity in just how people are doing. Empathy is her strength.”
He brought up his Jewish background, growing up in Brooklyn and then New Jersey, before moving to California after his father got a new job.
He credited her for getting deeper in his faith, and shares that she goes with him to the synagogue on High Holy Days and he goes with her to church for Easter.
“Kamala has fought against antisemitism and all forms of hate her whole career,” he said. “She’s the one who encouraged me as second gentleman to take up that fight which is so personal to me.”
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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