Emhoff says allegations about his and Harris’s personal lives ‘a distraction’

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff claims that he is not letting "misinformation" about his and his wife, Vice President Kamala Harris 's, past life "distract" her presidential campaign.

In an excerpt of an interview for MSNBC's Morning Joe shared on Friday, Emhoff was asked about why he believes former President Donald Trump does not want to debate Harris again. He claimed that the former president would rather spread a "fog of misinformation and disinformation and gaslighting."

MSNBC host Joe Scarborough then said how Trump had mentioned the "tabloid stories" about Emhoff's personal life and Harris's past personal life as part of the alleged "disinformation," and Scarborough asked Emhoff how he is able to "stay disciplined" with the claims levied at him and his wife.

"We don't have time to be pissed off. We don't have time to focus on it; it's all a distraction. It's designed to try to get us off our game," Emhoff responded.

The second gentleman maintained that those efforts do not get them off of their "game," noting that "all we talk about is this election."

A Daily Mail report alleged that Emhoff forcefully struck his then-girlfriend in 2012 while at an event in France, citing three friends of the woman. Emhoff denied the allegations of the report via a spokesperson to Semafor. Harris and Emhoff began dating in 2013.

Trump bemoaned Emhoff being used as a male role model by the Harris campaign while being interviewed by Ben Shapiro, noting a different MSNBC interview by Jen Psaki that did not address the allegations. The former president said that if those allegations were made about him, then "it would be the greatest story in the last five years.”

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Trump has also previously mentioned Harris's relationship with former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown in the 1990s as a means of attacking his opponent's career.

MSNBC said the full interview with Emhoff will air Monday on Morning Joe.