How Doug Emhoff learned Biden dropped out — and what Kamala told him when it happened
Doug Emhoff nearly missed one of the biggest moments of his wife’s life when Joe Biden announced he was dropping out of the presidental race.
Thesecond gentleman — during a fundraising and organizing call with Black Gay and Queer Men for Harris on Thursday night — said he was out with gay friends in West Hollywood on Sunday morning. They were getting coffee after finishing a SoulCycle class, and he didn’t have his phone with him, Emhoff said, according to The Los Angeles Times.
“My friend’s partner said, ‘Um, you need to look at this,’ and I said, ‘What?’” Emhoff recalled.
His friend was holding his phone to show Emhoff the president’s letter announcing he was ending his re-election campaign.
“Of course I didn’t have my phone, so I ran and ran and got into our car, and of course my phone is just on fire, and it’s basically, ‘Call Kamala,’ ‘Call Kamala,’ ‘Call Kamala,’ from everyone,” he said.
So he did.
“And of course, the first thing she said was, ‘Where the … were you? I need you,’” Emhoff said.
The funny moment shed light on how quickly Biden’s decision came down and was kept from many in Washington, DC. Less than an hour after Biden released the letter, he endorsed Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee to replace him. Since then, life has been a “whirlwind,” Emhoff said.
“We’ve just been hustling,” he said. “I’ve barely even seen her or talked to her since this all happened.”
Emhoff joined Harris on Monday at the now-former Biden campaign headquarters in Delaware, where she greeted staff and supporters and previewed her campaign message in the weeks and months to come.
Before getting off Thursday night’s call, Emhoff said he had not seen Harris in several days since her campaign’s launch.
“I’m going to give her a