Doug Emhoff, husband of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, said that the U.S. needs “a strong Republican party” to ensure productive debates on policy and the country’s future.
The second gentleman made the comments during Friday’s episode of The Rest Is Politics: US podcast, hosted by former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci, and journalist Katty Kay, in which he also said it was not enough to not support former President Donald Trump, “you’ve got to support Kamala Harris, if you really care about this country and you really care about the future.”
The vice president is currently 2.8 points ahead of Trump nationally in the latest aggregate of polls by FiveThirtyEight, in what many people are calling one of the closest presidential elections in U.S. history.
“We need a strong Republican Party,” Emhoff said, in response to a question from Scaramucci about Harris’ endorsements from Republicans such as former Vice President Dick Cheney. “We need them to come back so we are having really good debates on policy and ideas and what is the best way to move us forward.”
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, left, and second gentleman Doug Emhoff are pictured as they take a walk on September 8, 2024. Emhoff told the hosts of The Rest Is Politics: US podcast that Americans “need a strong Republican Party,” in an episode that aired today.
Rebecca Droke/AP
Emhoff acknowledged that there were policy disagreements but that these should be debated, and “the basics,” such as “adherence of the law” and “free and fair elections” shouldn’t have to be up for debate.
He said that “not beclowning ourselves, but having that gravitas on the world stage, and sticking up for our allies and sticking up for America,” were the “big things” it was important for Americans to agree on.
“We want a leader that represents that confidence in who we are as Americans,” the second gentleman added.
Earlier this month, Republican former congresswoman Liz Cheney said during a talk with Duke University students she would be voting for Harris, and retired General Stanley McChrystal announced in an op-ed for the New York Times on Friday that he would be casting his vote for “character,” and endorsed the vice president.
Newsweek has contacted the RNC press office, GOP house speaker Mike Johnson‘s press office and GOP senator Mitch McConnell‘s press office via email for comment.
“If you lose, you have to accept defeat and try again some other time again, not foment an insurrection,” Emhoff said in the podcast, referring Trump’s false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him, which led to the events of January 6, 2021 in Washington, D.C.
When approached by Newsweek for comment on Emhoff’s remarks, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said, “Nobody cares what Doug has to say. He’s as irrelevant as a wet paper bag.”
Emhoff, who told Scaramucci and Kay they could call him “SG”, has been outspoken in his praise for his wife in this election cycle, gaining a mini-fandom on social media, and has been labelled a “wife guy,” as well as being given his own hashtag: #DougHive.
Update, 09/27/24, 10:48 a.m. ET: This piece was updated with comment from Steven Cheung.
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