Vice President Kamala Harris following sexist criticisms about her lack of biological children. Emhoff called these criticisms “baseless” and expressed her gratitude for Harris’s role in their blended family.
“These are baseless attacks. For over 10 years, since Cole and Ella were teenagers, Kamala has been a co-parent with Doug and I,” Emhoff said in a statement to CNN. “She is loving, nurturing, fiercely protective, and always present. I love our blended family and am grateful to have her in it.”
The statement was in response to a resurfaced video of Republican vice presidential nominee Senator JD Vance, who criticized several public figures, including Harris, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, referring to them as “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives.”
“It’s just a basic fact — you look at Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, AOC — the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children,” Vance said during a July 2021 interview with Tucker Carlson.
Kerstin Emhoff, a film producer, shares two children, Cole and Ella, with Doug Emhoff. Harris has embraced her role as a stepmother, with her stepchildren affectionately calling her “Momala.”
