The ex-wife of Kamala Harris’ beau has expressed her support publicly for the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, calling out critics for their “baseless” attacks surrounding sexist commentary about Harris' lack of biological children.
Kerstin Emhoff was married to Doug Emhoff in 1992, and the pair remained together until 2008. They had two children together and divorced in 2008.
“These are baseless attacks. For over 10 years, since Cole and Ella were teenagers, Kamala has been a co-parent with Doug and I,” Kerstin Emhoff told CNN Wednesday. She later echoed the comments to The New York Times. “She is loving, nurturing, fiercely protective, and always present. I love our blended family and am grateful to have her in it.”
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Harris met Emhoff on a blind date in 2013 after being told by a friend about a “cute” man who could be a potential match, according to her 2019 memoir, The Truths We Hold: An American Journey. They married in 2014.
The pair have not had children together, but Harris has previously described the makeup of their modern family, including a 2019 essay for Elle, where she described the nickname her stepchildren, Cole and Ella, have for her: “Momala.”
“To know Cole and Ella is to know that their mother, Kerstin, is an incredible mother. Kerstin and I hit it off ourselves and are dear friends,” she wrote. “She and I became a duo of cheerleaders in the bleachers at Ella’s swim meets and basketball games, often to Ella’s embarrassment. We sometimes joke that our modern family is almost a little too functional.”
That hasn’t stopped sexist criticism for her lack of biological children, including footage resurfaced from a 2021 interview between J.D. Vance and then-Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
The GOP vice-presidential nominee, who has three children of his own, told Carlson at the time that Harris, along with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, “don’t really have a direct stake” in the nation’s interests because of their status as “people without children.” He described them as “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices they’ve made.”
The clip, re-shared on Monday, has already amassed 27 million views.
