Doug Emhoff brings fight against global antisemitism surge to Paris Olympics
Democratic nominee’s husband, who could become first Jewish spouse of a US president, attends commemoration of deadly 1982 attack on kosher deli, visits well-known falafel joint
Doug Emhoff, the husband of US Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, has used his perch as the head of the White House’s delegation to the Paris Olympics to highlight the global surge in antisemitism since October 7.
Emhoff, who is Jewish, spoke Friday at the commemoration of a deadly 1982 terror attack on a kosher deli in Paris, and later grabbed a bite at L’As du Fallafel, a celebrated kosher eatery in what was once a vibrant Jewish quarter of the French capital.
On Thursday, the US second gentleman attended a UNESCO discussion on Holocaust education and said the White House was working on a $2.2 million grant to that end.
“Part of fighting hate is living openly and proudly as a Jew and celebrating our faith and our culture,” said Emhoff at the commemoration ceremony. “I love being Jewish, and I love the joy that comes with being Jewish. And I’m not going to let anyone tell me how to be Jewish.”
Antisemitism, he said, “is a poison coursing through the veins of democracy and democratic ideals,” while decrying the “ferocious surge of antisemitism occurring around the world, including here in France.”
“We are seeing it on our streets, our college campuses, in our places of worship, and online,” Emhoff said. “Since the heinous terrorist attacks on October 7 — and the ensuing Israel-Hamas war — we are witnessing the worst wave of Jew-hatred the globe has experienced since World War II.”
Emhoff has been one of the most visible face of the White House’s fight against antisemitism. The first Jewish spouse of a US vice president, Emhoff could become the first Jew married to a US president should Harris win the November election.
A report by The New York Times noted that Emhoff was careful not to comment publicly in Paris on his wife’s presidential aspirations, though he reportedly attended a private fundraiser in the city for the Harris campaign.
Speaking outside the kosher falafel joint, Emhoff said that Harris had encouraged him to assist US President Joe Biden’s efforts to curb antisemitism.
“She and I knew that somebody had to speak out, and she knew that I had to take on this fight, no matter how difficult,” said Emhoff.
Earlier, Emhoff had marked the 42nd anniversary of the 1982 terror attack on Paris’s Chez Jo Goldenberg restaurant, which wounded 22 people and killed six, including two Americans.
“They were murdered by terrorists who hated them simply because of their connection to the Jewish community.”
The attack was carried out by the Abu Nidal Organization, a small Palestinian terror group that had splintered from Yasser Arafat’s Fatah about a decade earlier.
At Thursday’s UNESCO session, Emhoff recalled his 2023 trip to Poland. He spoke about his great-great-grandparents, who had escaped antisemitic persecution; those they left behind perished in the Holocaust.
“This is not just some concept in the history books,” he said.
Emhoff, 59, quit his job at a top entertainment law firm in California after then-Senator Harris was elected vice president in 2020. He has since become one of the Biden administration’s top advocates against antisemitism, and helped draft the White House’s plan to quash violence against Jews, unveiled in May 2023.
Since the Israel-Hamas war broke out on October 7 — when thousands of terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill nearly 1,200 people and take 251 hostages — Emhoff has also spoken publicly about the rise of antisemitism in the US, and convened Jewish leaders to discuss Biden’s support for Israel.
In a July 30 interview, Harris’s Republican rival, former US President Donald Trump, agreed with radio host Sid Rosenberg’s assertion that Emhoff is a “crappy Jew.” Emhoff, for his part, said in May that Trump is a “known antisemite.”
