Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff joined his parents on a fundraising livestream on Sunday after it was revealed he had an affair with his children’s nanny during his first marriage.
Emhoff, along with his parents Michael and Barbara, attended the Seniors for Harris fundraising event to talk live about his wife Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.
The second gentleman surprised those present via the livestream by blowing kisses to his parents and thanking them for their ‘lifelong’ love and support.
“I wouldn’t be who I am today if it wasn’t for you guys and your example and how you love us unconditionally no matter what and you always stand by us,” Emhoff said. “And that includes the three of us, your children and all of our children, our husbands, in my case ex-husband and Kamala’s entire family and it’s a sight to behold.”
Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff attends a campaign event with his parents Michael and Barbara
Emhoff said he was in Los Angeles when news broke that President Joe Biden had ended his presidential campaign and endorsed Harris.
He said he was with his parents and ex-wife Kerstin when he experienced the whirlwind of activity that followed.
“I was with my parents, Cole and Greenley… we got to see what the rest of the country was seeing at the same time and it was pretty surreal because I was there and we were with Kerstin and I was on the phone and watching and trying to keep up with what was happening in DC,” he said.
Doug’s father Michael Emhoff praised Kamala Harris’ campaign rhetoric during the conversation with their son and his top supporters.
Doug Emhoff’s parents, Michael and Barbara, participate in a livestream campaign event for Harris
“The one we liked best was, ‘We’re not going in the back,’” he said as his son laughed.
“No, we don’t!” agreed his mother Barbara.
Emhoff, often described as “the luckiest person in Washington, DC,” has built a lot of goodwill among Democrats for his sincere, if sometimes cheesy, participation in the political circus.
Since Kamala Harris was nominated by the Democrats as the presidential candidate to replace Joe Biden, Emhoff has become more visible.
Emhoff spoke out about his family after the Daily Mail reported Saturday morning that he had an affair with his children’s nanny and got her pregnant during his first marriage to Kerstin Emhoff.
Emhoff, 59, and her ex-wife Kerstin, 57, who was also a film producer, ended their 16-year marriage in 2009 when she discovered the affair, sources said.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and Second In Charge Doug Emhoff arrive at the White House for a state banquet on April 10, 2024
Doug Emhoff’s ex-wife Kerstin Emhoff and her daughter Ella
The second gentleman responded to news of the affair in a public statement first released to CNN.
“During my first marriage, Kerstin and I went through difficult times because of my actions,” Emhoff said in a statement to CNN about his first wife, Kerstin Emhoff. “I took responsibility and in the years since, we have worked through things as a family and have come out stronger.”
Emhoff met Harris in 2013, when she was California’s attorney general. The couple married in 2014.