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Runners-up Doug Emhoff was nervous after being asked if he chose the porcelain patterns and was the party planner of the vice president’s residence like his female predecessors, but insisted he has “a very healthy ego.”
Emhoff, 58, sat down with CNN to discuss his gender-breaking role as second lords of the United States.
When asked about choosing china patterns and planning bashes — the traditional domain of previous second ladies, Emhoff gasps, the network reported.
He then said, “We do things like that together, my wife and I, the vice president.”
Emhoff is the first man to hold the title since his wife Kamala Harris was inaugurated as VP in January 2021, after which the pair moved to the Naval Observatory in DC.
When asked how he copes with second place after his wife, the former entertainment lawyer said he has a “very healthy ego.”
“You have to put your ego aside though, it’s not about you,” he said CNN. “Now that I’m in the part, you really see that not all men would naturally do this, and push back, and there’s this, this, toxicity, this masculine idea of what a man is out there, that’s not correct . . . it’s something I just want to get back to.”
“Masculinity is loving your family, caring for your family, and being there for your family. We’re kind of confusing the concept that if a man somehow shows kindness or empathy or consideration for others, that’s somehow not masculine, and that’s just not okay, that’s just not true .’
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Doug Emhoff, 58, was confused after being asked if he chose the porcelain patterns and was the party planner of the vice president’s residence during a CNN interview
He became the first Second Gentlemen in 2021 after his wife, Kamala Harris, (pictured together) became the vice president
The couple co-parent Emhoff’s two adult children, Ella, 23, and Cole, 28.
Rather than spend hours thinking about what the plates look like, Emhoff focuses on political duties as Second Gentlemen, traveling the country hearing what voters need to bring back to the White House.
He has been to 40 different states and abroad three times as Second Gentlemen, according to CNN.
“There hasn’t been much time for the ceremonial part,” he said.
Veep’s husbands began taking on more official duties in 1953 with Patricia Nixon, wife of former Vice President (and President) Richard Nixon. She was the first to create her own agenda and travel on behalf of the vice president.
In 1978, Second Ladies, and now Second Gentlemen, were given a budget and an office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
In the old days, they often played the hostess and supportive husband.
Emhoff said his role is not to outdo his wife, but to be there for her. He also doubled down on men who were more supportive of their wives.
Prior to Patricia Nixon, Second Ladies were primarily hostess and supportive spouses at the VP’s residence (pictured), which is located at the Naval Observatory
“I’m here because I’m her husband. I’m here to support her,” he said on CNN’s special “Being…The Second Gentleman,” which airs Saturday at 8 p.m.
“I’ll be making speeches and one of the things I’m saying is, ‘Men should support women.’ First, it’s the right thing to do, and then, men, you really have to do it.’
He also wants America to go to a point where having a Second Gentlemen isn’t an overwhelming topic of conversation.
His children were also at the inauguration in January 2021 to support their stepmother
“I want to be in a world where this isn’t unique,” he told CNN. “It shouldn’t even matter that I’m a man in the future.”
He also hosted former Second Ladies Jill Biden and Karen Pence, who gave him great advice before moving in, with Jill telling him it would be different as a man but to be himself.
Karen, on the other hand, took a more hands-on approach, teaching him how to pay the bills and get the groceries to their house, which is located at the Naval Observatory.
‘[Karen] was very helpful, as I had been to the residence before. A lot of non-intuitive things happen in this situation,” Emhoff said.