Emhoff pledges to continue fighting against antisemitism ‘when I’m first gentleman’
Speaking to Jewish Democrats on DNC sidelines, Harris’s husband shares how she encouraged him to redouble efforts after Oct. 7, when antisemitism ‘went from problem to crisis’
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
CHICAGO — Doug Emhoff reflected Thursday on his efforts to combat antisemitism as second gentleman and pledged to continue the intensifying fight if his wife US Vice President Kamala Harris is elected president.
Speaking at an event organized by the Jewish Democratic Council of America on the sidelines the Democratic National Convention’s final day in Chicago, Emhoff shared how the vice president has encouraged his work.
He recalled sharing with Harris in late 2022 how incensed he was upon seeing a banner over a highway in his hometown of Los Angeles that read, “Kanye is right about the Jews.”
“So Kamala said, ‘Go do something about it. You’re second gentleman,'” Emhoff recalled.
Emhoff had already been speaking out against antisemitism and been open about his Jewish identity, but it was after that he began holding more intensive meetings with Jewish community leaders, which led to the roll-out of the first ever White House strategy for combatting antisemitism last year.
The first preparatory meeting featured a diverse group of Jewish leaders, and Emhoff gave introductory remarks.
“I said, ‘Let’s come together. We are all hated equally. I’m just as Jewish as you are, Rabbi.'”
Emhoff would go on to travel to Poland during International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
“As part of that work [to combat antisemitism], I was able to literally trace my lineage back to the actual building where my ancestors lived,” Emhoff said.
“It was a little bittersweet because in that community — like so many communities in Europe — there just weren’t any Jews.”
“To now stand before you as the first second gentleman, the first Jewish person to ever be a White House principal, to maybe becoming the first first gentleman, coming from, where I came from is humbling,” he continued.
“It’s very humbling to now be able to talk about these issues openly and publicly — to live openly and proudly and without fear as a Jewish person,” Emhoff declared.
Six months after the publication of the antisemitism strategy, Hamas launched its October 7 onslaught against Israel — “a horrible day that we are all still living with. Hostages must come home. This must come to an end,” he said.
There were several relatives of Hamas hostages in the room for Emhoff’s remarks, and the second gentleman stopped to embrace each of them before taking the podium.
He also praised the speech given the night before by the parents of American-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin who were welcomed onto the convention stage with chants of “Bring them home!”
“After [October 7], we knew we had to do more… We knew we had to beef up the plan,” Emhoff said.
“What was a massive problem of antisemitism before October 7 turned into a crisis of antisemitism afterward,” he said, slamming those who have denied the atrocities committed by Hamas.
Days after the onslaught, Emhoff had been slated to hold a long-scheduled check-in with Jewish community leaders. “I didn’t think I was emotionally ready to do that.”
He said Biden and Harris encouraged him to move forward, and Emhoff went on to give an emotional speech at that October 11 meeting.
The second gentleman also became particularly active in combatting antisemitism on college campuses, which were rocked by anti-Israel protests.
“Protests are fine, but when they cross the line into violence and prevent kids who just want to go to school and have nothing to do with the policies in Israel,” he said, “I can tell you when Kamala Harris is president and I’m first gentleman, we’re going to make sure they can go to class.”
“I’m going to continue to represent who we are. I’m going to continue to talk about my mother. I’m going to continue to talk about the brisket,” he quipped, referencing a tidbit from his Jewish upbringing that he often shares with audiences, Jewish and non-Jewish alike.
“I’m going to continue to talk about going to Hebrew school on the bus. I’m going to continue to talk about my lived experience as a Jewish person,” Emhoff continued. “It may not be the same as yours, but it’s mine, and it doesn’t make me any less or more Jewish than anyone else.”
