Doug Emhoff would become the nation’s first first gentleman if Kamala Harris wins the presidency

When Biden’s statement was posted, Emhoff eventually saw it on a borrowed phone, but he wasn’t sure at first whether it was authentic and jumped to the end — initially missing the key part. When he finally got his phone back, it was “self-destructing with the amount of messages and calls,” Emhoff said in an interview with The Associated Press.

And when he reached Harris, “the first thing I wondered was, ‘Where were you?'” Emhoff laughed, before recalling telling his wife, “‘I love you, I’m proud of you, I’m here for you, I kind of know what to do.'”

Emhoff has shown a knack for defining the role of the nation’s first second gentleman over the past three years. He would become the nation’s first first gentleman if his wife, the likely Democratic nominee, wins in November.

In White House shorthand, Emhoff would be promoted from SGOTUS (second gentleman of the United States) to FGOTUS.

He is already accustomed to traveling the country to promote his wife and the Biden administration’s accomplishments, but now that she is seeking the nomination, those efforts have quickly shifted into high gear.

“The change happened so suddenly,” Emhoff said, “that we didn’t have time to really think about the history.”

Emhoff, 59, has visited 37 states and 14 countries as second gentlemen. He has already been to four states since Biden withdrew, and he will be in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine from Monday through Wednesday.

“I’ve taken on a lot more events,” Emhoff said, “and the events are getting bigger and bigger.”

He is leading a delegation to the closing ceremonies of the Paris Olympics and will host a fundraiser there, taking the place of first lady Jill Biden. The second gentleman is also filling in for Jill Biden, who is reducing travel now that her husband is out of the race, at an upcoming fundraiser on Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts with former host David Letterman.

The vice president built her first campaign on the theme of freedom, and Emhoff was one of the first surrogates on the fledgling campaign to carry that message when he visited an abortion clinic in the Washington suburbs last week — an event planned before Biden’s announcement.

There Emhoff criticized an environment “where freedoms are taken away. Where autonomy is taken away. Where they tell you that you are not allowed to read this book. They tell you that you are not allowed to learn these facts. They tell you that you are not allowed to vote.”

In the interview, Emhoff said of his wife: “I have my own way of communicating things and my own way of talking authentically about her and her points of view.”

He’s also no stranger to Harris’ presidential bid, having campaigned for her during her unsuccessful 2020 campaign.

“He’s like a Swiss Army knife of whatever it takes,” said Deidre DeJear, who was Iowa chairwoman for Harris’ last campaign. “If he had to hold something for her, he held something. He’s also a team motivator. He comes in and he’ll put some fire under you, and he’ll use his dad voice when he has to.”

DeJear recalled how Harris and Emhoff moved to her state for months in late 2019, even having Thanksgiving dinner in Des Moines. When Harris described how she would make kale and joked that “bacon is a condiment,” Emhoff responded that she had come up with a fitting way to expand on the campaign’s “for the people” mantra.

“That could be our new campaign slogan: ‘For the people. Bacon is a spice,’” he said then.

However, Emhoff said he doesn’t see many similarities between that first primary and his fight against Republican Donald Trump in November.

“She’s been vice president for almost four years, she’s been in the Oval Office, she’s been in the Situation Room, she’s been on the world stage,” the second gentleman said of Harris. “This is a Kamala Harris who is ready to lead us.”

Emhoff is the first Jewish person to be the spouse of a nationally elected U.S. leader. He affixed mezuzahs to the doorposts of the vice president’s residence, helped draft the first national strategy to combat anti-Semitism, and led White House Passover celebrations.

The second gentleman also attended the laying of the cornerstone for the memorial on the campus of Tree of Life in Pittsburgh, where 11 worshippers were killed by a gunman driven by hatred of Jews.

“I’m also going to live openly and proudly as a Jew and that will never change,” Emhoff said. “I’m going to fight anti-Semitism and that will never change.”

Trump claimed Friday night during a speech at a Turning Point USA rally in Florida that Harris “doesn’t like Jewish people.”

Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza has divided many in the United States who might otherwise have been more enthusiastic about voting Democratic this fall. Pro-Palestinian demonstrations have also been sparked by Biden’s strong support for Israel.

Harris supports Biden’s policies but is trying to bridge the divide within the party by emphasizing Israel’s right to defend itself while focusing on alleviating Palestinian suffering.

The second gentleman’s adult daughter, Ella, drew criticism from some quarters after she briefly posted a fundraising link to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees on a personal social media account. Israel has banned the group, suggesting it supports terrorists, an accusation European leaders say is unfounded.

Emhoff was born in Brooklyn, grew up in New Jersey, graduated from California State University, Northridge, and went on to law school at the University of Southern California. He left a lucrative job as an entertainment and intellectual property lawyer to avoid conflicts of interest when Harris became vice president, but served as a visiting professor of law at Georgetown University after moving to Washington.

Emhoff and Harris met on a blind date in 2013 and married the following year. It was her first marriage and his second. Harris’ stepchildren — Ella and her brother Cole Emhoff — are named after Ella Fitzgerald and John Coltrane. They were teenagers when their father remarried.

Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance once criticized Harris and other Democratic leaders as a “group of childless cat ladies who are unhappy,” a quote that has resurfaced in the heat of the 2024 campaign. During an appearance for his wife in Wisconsin on Saturday, Emhoff did not mention Vance by name but noted that Harris had officiated at Cole’s wedding and flown across the country overnight to attend Ella’s graduation.

“From day one she has been there, caring and fiercely protective of them,” said Emhoff.

After finally speaking to his wife on the Sunday Biden withdrew from the race, Emhoff flew early the next morning to Wilmington, Delaware, where he met her at Biden’s former campaign headquarters and helped her mobilize the staff of what had suddenly become Harris’ campaign.

“I saw her for a minute or two and gave her a big hug,” Emhoff said. “And they said, ‘Well, sir, you’ve got to jump up on that stage.'”

Associated Press reporters Amanda Seitz in McLean, Virginia, and Aamer Madhani contributed to this report.