Doug Emhoff Praises ‘Badass Warrior’ Kamala Harris

Doug Emhoff appeared on the Pod Save America podcast this week, revealing details about life with his wife, Vice President Kamala Harris, and the moment he heard Joe Biden was dropping out of the presidential race.

Emhoff, who made history as the first “second gentleman of the United States,” was a California lawyer and married Harris on Aug. 22, 2014, a year after the two were set up on a blind date.

On the Crooked Media podcast, hosted by Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, Dan Pfeiffer and Tommy Vietor, all former aides of former President Barack Obama, Emhoff recounted the moment he learned that President Joe Biden had dropped out of the 2024 presidential race. He was in a SoulCycle class with friends in West Hollywood, without his phone, he explained.

“The phone, steam is coming out of it,” he said on the podcast. “I finally talked to her [Harris] and she said, ‘Where the f where you, I need you.’

“It was a very short conversation, and it really has been like getting shot out of a cannon,” he said. “The next day, I was in Wilmington, addressing the now Harris campaign, and it was so surreal.”

Emhoff then spoke about life on the campaign trail and said: “It’s just been nonstop. It has literally been nonstop. I’ve barely seen her.”

“There’s not a lot of, like, happy-couple chit-chat with us, it’s not like, ‘Hey, this is pretty amazing,’ she’s like, ‘Get back to work.’ You can’t even say anything to her because she’s so focused. That it’s just, ‘Yeah, I’m not gonna pay attention to that, get back out on the road.'”

Emhoff then spoke about the Democratic National Convention, where he made an emotional speech about his wife on the second night.

He explained that when preparing for the speech, he knew he needed to talk both about Harris, and to introduce himself.

“What I wanted to do is just show, the woman I married, the woman I love, the woman who was there for me you know, a rough time in my life, who was able to come in and be Mamala to the kids, and be now, really great friends with my ex-wife and integrate with her family,” he said.

Emhoff was lauded on social media after the speech as being the picture of a supportive spouse, securing “wife guy” status. He was introduced at the conference by his son Cole, who worked on the film This is my Dad, Doug, alongside his mother and Emhoff’s ex-wife, Kerstin Emhoff. She is a vocal supporter and friend of Harris.

In the podcast, Emhoff described his wife as a “joyful warrior,” and a “badass warrior.”

He said that he was “fearful” of Harris when she was attorney general and he was an entertainment lawyer, adding that at the time he’d wondered what she would be like on a date. “She was great,” he said on the podcast.

“She’s the joyful warrior,” he said. “So that kind of part about her was the joyful part, let’s end with the badass warrior, the person I also see.”

He continued: “The person that I was fearful of when she was attorney general and I was representing business clients and I’m like, ‘Oh, I wonder what she’s gonna be like on a date.'”

He continued: “She just stepped up. When we needed somebody to step up, this country needed a leader to step into the void, step into the breach. And she did that.”

Harris is set to debate former President Donald Trump on ABC on September 10.

Speaking about the upcoming debate, Emhoff was asked about debating with Kamala, with the podcast host saying: “I assume no one had debated with her more than you have.” Emhoff responded: “I haven’t won one.”

Emhoff said that at the debate, Harris will “be talking about us.”

“She’s gonna be talking about the American people, talking about moving us forward, talking about this economic plan, talking about our standing in the world.”

“She’s going to talk about the issues that actually help people,” he said.

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