Second gentleman Doug Emhoff revealed where he was when he learned that President Joe Biden had dropped out of the 2024 presidential race on Sunday.
Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, told Harris supporters in a video call on Thursday that he was in a SoulCyle class with friends in West Hollywood, California, around when Biden confirmed he was leaving the race, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The second gentleman explained that his group went out for coffee immediately after the cycling class, but that he’d left his phone in his car during his workout, and so didn’t immediately hear the news.
“My friend’s partner said, ‘Um, you need to look at this,’ and I said, ‘What?’” he recounted during the video call event, which was titled, “Black Gay and Queer Men for Harris.”
Emhoff said that his friend then showed him Biden’s letter to the country announcing his exit.
“Of course I didn’t have my phone, so I ran and ran and got into our car, and of course my phone is just on fire, and it’s basically, ‘Call Kamala,’ ‘Call Kamala,’ ‘Call Kamala,’ from everyone,” he continued. “And of course, the first thing [Harris] said was, ‘Where the … were you? I need you.’”
Emhoff added that life for his family since has been a “whirlwind.”
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Harris and Emhoff wed in 2014. The vice president is stepmom to Emhoff’s two adult children, Cole and Ella, whom he shares with his ex-wife, Kerstin Emhoff.
Biden endorsed Harris as the new Democratic nominee shortly after he dropped his bid for reelection. The vice president has since faced an increase in scrutiny for not having biological children.
A 2021 clip of Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), GOP nominee Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick, recently resurfaced online in which he referred to Harris as one of the “childless cat ladies” running the country.
Kerstin Emhoff publicly came to Harris’ defense, telling New York Times White House reporter Katie Rogers on Wednesday that GOP attacks describing Harris as “childless” are “baseless.”
“For over 10 years, since Cole and Ella were teenagers, Kamala has been a co-parent with Doug and I,” she said. “She is loving, nurturing, fiercely protective, and always present. I love our blended family and am grateful to have her in it.”