CHICAGO — When Doug Emhoff, the man who would be America’s first first gentleman, spoke at the Democratic National Convention last night, he brought the personal joy of being married to Kamala Harris . Emhoff described how he met Kamala on a blind date. In his first phone call to her, at 8:30 a.
m. one morning, he left an embarrassingly nervous and rambling voicemail. Kamala kept the recording, and she plays it for him on every anniversary.
ALSO READ: Why Kamala Harris may get a big convention polling ‘bounce’ Emhoff and Harris married in 2014, when Emhoff’s children, Cole and Emma, were still teenagers . Despite Republican innuendo about Harris not having “children of her own,” the Emhoff children clearly love Harris, and aggressively defend her . They call her “Momala,” a name Harris says she wears “proudly.
” It’s obvious that their blended family works. Harris is clear eyed about why that is . “The thing about blended families,” Harris said, “is if everyone approaches it in the way that there’s plenty of love to share, then it works.
” Navigating early complexities Aside from stepchildren who are crazy about their stepmom, Emhoff is Jewish, which may help assuage critics determined to paint Harris as antisemitic . Harris has been vocal about human rights violations in Gaza while at the same time maintaining her support for Israel’s right to defend itself. Emhoff, who attended Hebrew School and frequently addresses antisemitism, can assure Jewish voters that although Harris might hold Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s right-wing leadership in contempt for their aggression against Gaza civilians, her criticism does not translate into antisemitism.
Ella Emhoff watches her father, Doug Emhoff, deliver a speech on the second day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on Aug. 20, 2024, in Chicago. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) In her marriage to Emhoff, Harris displayed maturity and wisdom.
In 2019, long before she was tapped as the Democratic nominee for president, Harris wrote an essay for Elle about their relationship: “When I met Doug, the man who would become my husband, I also met a man who was a divorced father of two children, Cole and Ella...
. As a child of divorce, I knew how hard it could be when your parents start to date other people.” Drawing from her own experience, Harris was cautious and measured.
“I was determined not to insert myself in their lives until Doug and I had established we were in this for the long haul. Children need consistency; I didn’t want to insert myself into their lives as a temporary fixture because I didn’t want to disappoint them. There’s nothing worse than disappointing a child.
” Stepchildren — and Americans exhausted from the divisive politics of hate propagated by Donald Trump and his enablers — should all be so lucky. Attacks on stepmoms are old news Republicans have been merciless in their attacks against Harris for not having had children of “her own,” and give her no credit for her blended family’s success. Anyone who has been a stepparent knows that stepparents have to navigate complex emotions all around.
Doug Emhoff, husband of then-U.S. Sen.
Kamala Harris (D-CA), takes a selfie prior to Harris delivering a campaign speech at the Des Moines Register Political Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair on Aug. 10, 2019, in Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) Stepmothers, more so than stepfathers, have endured centuries of unfair stereotyping .
The evil stepmom as a recurring narrative reflects the family breakup more than the woman involved: a stepparent “steps into” pre-existing conflict between two parents who, for whatever reason, decided to end their marriage. Psychology Today reports that of all the complications involved, the toughest challenges for a stepmom typically come from the ex-wife, because mothers who leave a marriage often still maintain a strong agenda where their children are involved. Or they may be jealous of the new wife.
Even when people desperately want out of an unhappy marriage, they can experience FOMO — the fear of missing out — when a new person steps into their discarded shoes and seems to make a happier go of it. There’s no FOMO in the Harris-Emhoff household Centuries of maladaptive stereotypes make it all the more extraordinary that Kerstin Emhoff, Doug’s ex-wife, embraces Harris. Most of all, she approves of Harris’ performance as step parent to her two children.
Kerstin Emhoff defended Harris after video resurfaced showing Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance criticizing Harris and other “childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives.
” Kerstin Emhoff told CNN that the attacks against Kamala were “baseless” because “for over 10 years, since Cole and Ella were teenagers, Kamala has been a co-parent with Doug and I.” ALSO READ: Joe Biden gave his best to us She continued to say Harris “is loving, nurturing, fiercely protective and always present. I love our blended family and am grateful to have her in it.
” In his Democratic National Convention speech, Doug noted that daughter Emma concurs, and calls Kamala, Doug and Kerstin a “three-headed parenting machine.” America itself is a blended family There aren’t many ex-wives who praise the woman who marries their ex-husband. It’s nothing short of extraordinary.
The success of the Harris-Emhoffs, with all the attendant complications of a modern, blended family, suggests Harris possesses the presence and emotional intelligence to navigate complex situations among competing interests. Emhoff said Kamala “finds joy in pursuing justice,” and hates it when people are treated unfairly. Attendees hold "Doug" signs as second gentleman Doug Emhoff speaks on stage during the second day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on Aug.
20, 2024, in Chicago. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) “Her empathy,” he said, “is her strength.” Kamala “has always been there for our children and I know she’ll always be there for yours, too.
” Emhoff closed his touching, sometimes humorous speech with a word of advice about Harris’ disguised strength as she seeks to become the nation’s first female president. “Here’s the thing about joyful warriors: they’re still warriors.” One person likely not feeling joy this week as a result? A certain former president.
Sabrina Haake is a columnist and 25 year litigator specializing in 1st and 14th Amendment defense. Her Substack , The Haake Take , is free. Editor's note: This article has been updated to include new details released by the U.
S. Attorney's Office of the Eastern District of North Carolina and confirmation that Nix is no longer serving in the Army following the original publication of this article on Sunday, Aug. 18.
Kai Liam Nix, a 20-year-old Army soldier tied to extremist threats against a Raw Story reporter, was arrested on Aug. 15 and is being detained in a North Carolina jail on a “federal hold,” Raw Story has confirmed. The New Yorker, which published an extensive article Sunday about right-wing extremism , further detailed that Nix’s federal charges involve “illicit sales of firearms and lying on a background check.
” Update, 5:01 p.m., Aug.
19, 2024: A federal grand jury indicted Nix — also known as Kai Brazelton — with unlawful firearms trafficking, including the sale of two stolen firearms, according to a statement Monday from the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Eastern District of North Carolina.
The grand jury also indicted Nix on making false statements to the government by allegedly lying on a security clearance application document by saying he had "never been a member of a group dedicated to the use of violence or force to overthrow the U.S. government.
" The FBI; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and the U.S. Army Criminal Investigations Department have combined to investigate Nix's case, according to the U.
S. Attorney's Office of the Eastern District of North Carolina. Together, the charges carry a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison.
Update, 12:10 a.m., Aug.
21, 2024: Bryce S. Dubee, an Army spokesperson, confirmed to Raw Story that Nix "has left the Army," while referring additional questions to the Department of Justice. Robert J.
Parrott Jr., a public defender, told the New York Times "that we should avoid rushing to judgement" on Nix, adding that the defendant "looks forward to making his case in court." The story by New Yorker reporter David Kirkpatrick links Nix to a demonstration by neo-Nazis in February outside the Greensboro, N.
C., home of Raw Story reporter Jordan Green. The article also links Nix to photographs of a bogus pizza delivery at Green’s home in January — ones circulated by extremists in an attempt to intimidate Green, who was then completing reporting on a neo-Nazi youth gang 2119, also known as the Blood and Soil Crew.
RELATED ARTICLE: Inside the neo-Nazi hate network grooming children for a race war As detailed by the New Yorker, the license plate of a pickup truck parked outside Green’s home and containing someone surreptitiously photographing the pizza delivery traced back to Nix. The photo apparently taken by Nix was posted by a 2119 member on the social media app Telegram the day after the incident. Nix, who is an active-duty soldier based at Fort Liberty, N.
C., per the New Yorker’s reporting, was also reportedly present at the neo-Nazi demonstration in front of Green’s home in February. RELATED ARTICLE: Florida teens tied to ‘2119’ neo-Nazi gang to plead guilty for antisemitic attacks The New Yorker indicated that Nix photographed four men wearing skull masks holding burning flares in Hitler salutes while flanking a fifth man, who held a sign warning of a “consequence” for Green’s reporting.
The man holding the sign, Sean Kauffmann , along with two of the men making Hitler salutes — Jarrett William Smith and David Fair — had been the subject of Green’s previous reporting. Photos of the demonstration soon appeared on a Telegram channel named Appalachian Archives. Also posted: photos of the Nazis posing next to a historical marker commemorating the Greensboro massacre, where a coalition of Nazis and Ku Klux Klan members fatally gunned down five labor organizers in 1979.
Raw Story attempted to reach the Army to confirm Nix's service status, but did not receive a response before publication on Sunday. Messages left for the FBI and the U.S.
Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina likewise went unreturned Sunday. CNN anchors Dana Bash and Abby Phillip lauded Barack and Michelle Obama following their powerful speeches at the Democratic National Convention. Talking with the two after the pair of speeches, fellow anchor Jake Tapper noted that the Obamas celebrated Harris and the convention, but that it's time for Democrats to get to work.
"Both of them were giving the unmistakable message to the crowd: yes, this is fun. We're having a great time. This is very exciting.
But this is not what the next 77 days are going to look like," said Tapper, paraphrasing the Obamas with a laugh. "This is going to be tough. Your candidates are going to make mistakes.
The other side is going to fight like hell." Bash agreed with Tapper, noting that both spoke to the Democratic base, the energized grassroots, but also to swing voters, undecided voters and Ronald Reagan-era Republicans." ALSO READ: Why Kamala Harris may get a big convention polling ‘bounce’ She praised Barack Obama as "unmistakably extraordinary.
" "There's no Republican who would say anything different," she said. But it was Michelle who seemed to land even better with the audience. "When Michelle Obama was speaking," she said, looking over to Phillip, "we were talking — we couldn't hear.
" Phillip echoed Bash's remark. "That was the loudest this arena had gotten," Phillip said. "This place was going absolutely nuts," added Bash, particularly over one line that Michelle Obama said.
"When she talked about the fact that he dislikes them effectively for one reason," said Bash. "And that is because they are Black. That's effectively what she said.
" Michelle "twisted the knife" when she said they have the "Black jobs," added Bash. Phillip called the Obamas "two of the best players in politics right now." "Two people who can speak in ways that almost no one else in the party can speak," she said.
"Particularly Michelle Obama. That speech really electrified this arena. I don't even think Barack Obama — no offense to him, his speech was excellent — it was not received in the same way.
I think we just have to be honest by that." Former President Barack Obama delivered a searing takedown of former President Donald Trump at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday night as he laid out why he's supporting Kamala Harris . After paying homage to President Joe Biden — whom Obama called his first and "best" decision as 2008 presidential nominee — Obama said the "torch has been passed," and urged people to fight against Trump.
He called out Trump's "rallies and the memes," and later the "childish nicknames and "conspiracy theories." ALSO READ: Why Kamala Harris may get a big convention polling ‘bounce’ Obama blasted Trump as a 78-year-old billionaire who has "not stopped whining about his problems since he rode down his golden escalator nine years ago." "It has been a constant stream of gripes and grievances that has actually gotten worse now that he's afraid of losing to Kamala," Obama added.
Watch the clip below or at this link..
