As Kamala Harris conceded her humiliating defeat on Wednesday in a speech at Howard University in Washington, D.C., her husband Doug Emhoff was first on her list of people to thank.
‘To my beloved Doug and our family, I love you so very much. To President Biden and Dr. Biden, thank you for your faith and support,’ she declared to the weeping crowd of Democrats.
At 60, few could blame Harris if she is looking forward to stepping out of the limelight following such a grueling Presidential race. After all, since becoming beleaguered Joe Biden‘s Vice President in 2021 and then Presidential hopeful in July, life has been a whirlwind of crises and campaigning, with surely little time to think about anything else.
But for Harris, known by colleagues for her relentless drive, stepping away from the slings and arrows of the campaign trail may not be as enticing as it sounds.
For as the curtain falls on her time in the White House, the Democrats’ golden girl might find herself with more thinking time to confront a few lingering – and undoubtedly uncomfortable questions – surrounding her personal life with ‘beloved’ husband Doug.
Emhoff, whose noble career as a prominent attorney in California involved representing an arms dealer selling to Afghanistan, Big Pharma, and a nightclub owner accused of 𝓈ℯ𝓍ual harassment and 𝓈ℯ𝓍ual battery, quit his job to fully support Harris’s political ambitions in 2020.
It was a decision he described as ‘a no-brainer’, adding: ‘I really decided to lean in on this issue of men supporting women, professionally and personally, so they can succeed, even if that means stepping away from my own career.’
Since then, he’s been hell-bent on perfecting his image as a ‘wife-guy’. Emhoff became a prominent presence on the campaign trail — always at his wife’s side, sharing their private moments on social media, from cooking Thanksgiving dinner together to hand delivering a rose to Harris at work on Valentine’s Day.
Harris, for her part, spoke often of her deep affection for Emhoff and their blended family. His 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren, Cole and Ella, whom Harris calls ‘her own’, have appeared to support their stepmother wholeheartedly, often publicly expressing their admiration for both their father and their ‘Momala’. ‘They are brilliant, talented, funny kids who have grown to be remarkable adults,’ Harris wrote in 2019. ‘I was already hooked on Doug, but I believe it was Cole and Ella who reeled me in.’
‘We sometimes joke that our modern family is almost a little too functional,’ Harris said on another occasion.
But behind the carefully curated social media posts and campaign photos, even the strongest relationships can face challenges.
Over the summer, DailyMail.com exclusively reported a series of allegations surrounding Emhoff that Harris deftly brushed aside during the final stretch of her political journey.
In August, we reported that Emhoff had had an affair with his daughter’s nanny while still married to his first wife, film producer Kerstin Mackin – one that allegedly resulted in a pregnancy and a subsequent miscarriage. A source claimed Emhoff paid the nanny $80,000 in exchange for her signing a non-disclosure agreement and that the affair played a part in his divorce from Kerstin in 2009.
But the controversy didn’t end there. In October, a former girlfriend of Emhoff’s came forward, alleging a disturbing incident during an A-list event in Cannes, France in May 2012. According to her, Emhoff slapped her so hard in the face that the blow ‘spun [her] around,’ leaving her shocked and disoriented.
‘[Emhoff] comes up, turns me around by my right shoulder,’ she told the Mail.
‘I’m completely caught off guard, I’m not bracing, I’m in four-inch heels, wearing a full-length gown and it’s between 2-3am. He slaps me so hard I spin around, and I’m in utter shock.’
Emhoff has since admitted to the extramarital affair, saying ‘during my first marriage, Kerstin and I went through some tough times on account of my actions. I took responsibility, and in the years since, we worked through things as a family and have come out stronger on the other side.’
But he has denied, through an anonymous spokesperson, ever having slapped his girlfriend who said, ‘any suggestion that [Emhoff] would or has ever hit a woman is false.’
If those allegations weren’t troubling enough, Emhoff also faced reports from his former colleagues at the Los Angeles law firm Venable, where he worked from 2006 to 2017.
They described a work culture marked by misogyny, claiming that Emhoff allegedly yelled expletives, held a man-only cocktail hour in the office, revoked work perks from women who didn’t flirt with him and preferred only young, attractive associates to accompany him in limousines to professional events.
Harris has remained conspicuously quiet, never commenting publicly on any of the allegations.
Perhaps she was too focused on her tireless efforts, throughout the campaign, to project an image of a picture-perfect family.
But as Harris now prepares to leave the bustle of the White House, with more time to slow down and regroup, the haunting questions surrounding her husband’s past that were so easily brushed aside during her political ascent may well make their way to the forefront of her mind.
And certainly, for any wife, they’re not easy allegations to reckon with.
So as Harris inevitably faces difficult decisions about her future, her career may not be the only thing she is re-evaluating.
