Kerstin Emhoff, the ex-wife of second gentleman Doug Emhoff , shut down sexist attacks against Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday, rebuking conservatives’ description of the VP as “childless.”
Emhoff, a film and TV producer, shares two adult children with the second gentleman: Cole, 29, and Ella, 25.
“These are baseless attacks,” she told New York Times White House reporter Katie Rogers. “For over 10 years, since Cole and Ella were teenagers, Kamala has been a co-parent with Doug and I.”
“She is loving, nurturing, fiercely protective, and always present. I love our blended family and am grateful to have her in it,” Emhoff continued.
Kerstin and Doug Emhoff divorced in 2008 after 16 years of marriage. Harris and Doug Emhoff wed in 2014.
Harris was endorsed by President Joe Biden to replace him as the Democratic nominee for president, shortly after he dropped his bid for reelection on Sunday. She’s since faced fresh scrutiny for not having biological children.
Meanwhile, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), Donald Trump ’s vice presidential pick, received backlash this week after a 2021 clip resurfaced online in which he referred to Harris as one of the “childless cat ladies” running the country.
People have slammed the senator , noting that there are many reasons why a woman doesn’t have , or chooses not to have, kids.
The vice president has talked about her relationship with her stepchildren on several occasions.
Doug Emhoff and then-Vice President Elect Kamala Harris photographed with Cole and Ella Emhoff at the presidential inauguration of Joe Biden on January 20, 2021 in Washington, DC.
In 2019, Harris wrote an essay for Elle in honor of Mother’s Day in which she gushed over Cole and Ella, calling them “brilliant, talented, funny kids who have grown to be remarkable adults” who serve as her “endless source of love and pure joy.”
She said that her stepchildren had dubbed her “Momala,” as a loving way to honor their relationship.
“When Doug and I got married, Cole, Ella, and I agreed that we didn’t like the term ‘stepmom,‘” she wrote. “Instead they came up with the name ‘Momala.’”
The vice president also paid tribute to Kerstin Emhoff in that essay, calling her “an incredible mother.”
“Kerstin and I hit it off ourselves and are dear friends,” she wrote, adding, “We sometimes joke that our modern family is almost a little too functional.”
On Thursday, Ella Emhoff responded to some of Harris’ critics, writing in a text overlay of an Instagram story: “How can you be ‘childless’ when you have cutie pie kids like Cole and I.”
“ I love my three parents ,” she added.
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