Kamala Harris’ husband’s ex-wife and the mother of her two step-children has broken her silence after a clip of vice presidential nominee JD Vance resurfaced, in which he refers to Harris as a ‘childless cat lady.’
Kerstin Emhoff, the ex-wife of Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, defended the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee against ‘baseless’ criticisms over her lack of biological children, claiming Harris is an equal co-parent of their kids.
‘These are baseless facts,’ Kerstin told CNN. ‘For over 10 years since Cole and Ella were teenagers, Kamala has been a co-parent with Doug and I.
‘She is loving, nurturing, fiercely protective and always present.
‘I love our blended family and am grateful to have her in it.’
Her remarks came just hours after Vance’s 2021 interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson went viral on social media.
In the interview, Vance said the US was run by ‘a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable too.’
‘Look at Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, AOC – the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children,’ Donald Trump’s newly-announced running mate continued.
‘How does it make any sense we’ve turned our country over to people who don’t really have a direct stake in it?’
But Harris has been a step-mother to Emhoff’s two adult children since she married their father in 2014, and has been lovingly dubbed ‘Momala.’
In 2019, Harris even penned an essay where she described her stepkids as her ‘endless source of love and pure joy’ and explained how the name ‘Momala’ came to be.
‘A few years later when Doug and I got married, Cole, Ella, and I agreed that we didn’t like the term “stepmom.” Instead they came up with the name “Momala,”‘ she penned in Elle Magazine.
The vice president has also praised Kerstin as someone who has become a ‘dear friend.’
‘Kerstin and I hit it off ourselves and are dear friends,’ she wrote in the essay.
‘…We sometimes joke that our modern family is almost a little too functional.’
Ella Emhoff, now 25-years-old, was an art student when Harris was picked as Biden’s running mate. She has since exploded onto the fashion and art scene as her stepmom became the first woman Vice President of the United States.
In January 2021, Emhoff signed with the international modeling agency IMG Models. She has since appeared in a series of prominent fashion campaigns, walked some of the biggest runway shows in the world and graced numerous red carpets including attending the Met Gala.
But her pro-Palestine leanings have recently made waves amid the ongoing war in Israel.
As pro-Palestinian protests were taking place across the country in the wake of Hamas’ October 7 attack, Emhoff urged her more than 300,000 social media followers to donate to the U.N. agency accused of aiding the terrorist group.
There no longer appear to be fundraising links on her Instagram page.
Lesser public is Harris’ stepson Cole Emhoff who lives in Los Angeles and works in entertainment like his mother.
Born in 1994, Cole Emhoff at 30-years-old is the elder of vice president’s stepchildren.
He was a senior in high school when Harris and his dad got together. He went off to Colorado College after graduating.
According to his IMDB page, he has worked on several movies including as an assistant on the 2020 award-winning film ‘Minari’ as well as the 2022 remake of ‘Father of the Bride.’
The vice president officiated his wedding in October 2023 when he married Greenley Littlejohn.
In an interview just before Harris was sworn in as vice president, Cole was asked about his dad and stepmother’s relationship.
‘It depends on the setting,’ he said. ‘Because Doug and Kamala together are like almost vomit-inducingly cute and coupley. I’m like, When is this going to wear off?’
He said they have always called Emhoff ‘Doug’ at home rather than ‘dad’ and explained it as a term of endearment.