Doug Emhoff Speaks at 2024 Democratic National Convention

Thank you. Thank you, Cole. I guess he didn’t want me to give this speech. He just… Thank you. Thank you so much. Hello. Thank you. Hello to my big, beautiful, blended family up there. I love you so much. Aren’t you proud of Cole? Wow. And a special shout out to my mother. I see you. My mother is the only person in the whole world who thinks Kamala is the lucky one for marrying me. And to Kamala, who… Well, we just saw where she is. She’s out on the trail, listening to and talking with voters. Honey, I can’t wait for you to come back to Chicago because we’re having a great time here. I love you so much. I’m so proud of how you’re stepping up for all of us. But that’s who she is. Wherever she’s needed, however she’s needed, Kamala rises to the occasion and she did it for me and our family. And now that the country needs her, she’s showing you what we already know. She’s ready to lead. She brings both joy and toughness to this task. And she will be a great president we will all be proud of.

(02:08)
Now I’m the son of two Brooklynites, Mike and Barb. They’ve been together almost 70 years. My dad worked in the shoe business in Manhattan and he moved our family out to New Jersey… Where’s New Jersey? I see you out there. When I was a little kid and in a lot of ways, I had a typical Jersey suburban childhood. I biked around the neighborhood. I took the bus to Hebrew school and I rode to little league practice in the way back of my coaches’ wood paneled station wagon. And if we did well, we got to have a Slurpee after. In my neighborhood, everyone left their garage door open. Wherever you ended up at dinnertime, that’s the family that fed you. Everyone took care of everyone else. And the guys I grew up with are still my best friends. The group chat is active every day and it’s probably blowing up right now, guys.

(03:21)
When my dad had to get a new job, we moved across the country to LA. Money was tight… Hey, California. Money was tight. So I worked in McDonald’s in high school for some extra cash. Not only was I employee of the month, but I still have the frame picture, which you just saw. And there was a ring, golden arches and all. And then I waited tables, parked cars. I was working full time so I could afford to go to college part-time.

(03:59)
And thanks to partial scholarships, student loans and a little help from my dad, I got myself through law school and I got my first job as a lawyer, which is also where I met the guys in my fantasy football league. And a lot has changed in our lives since the early ’90s, but my team name is still Nirvana. Yes, after the band. I worked hard and I love being a lawyer. And by the way, I still get to be part of the profession by teaching students at Georgetown Law School. I got married, became a dad to Cole and Ella, unfortunately went through a divorce, but eventually started worrying about how I would make it all work, and that’s when something unexpected happened.

(05:00)
In 2013, I walked into a contentious client meeting. We worked through the issue, and by the end of the meeting, the now happy client offered to set me up on a blind date, which is how I ended up with Kamala Harris’s phone number. Now for generations, people have debated when to call the person you’re being set up with and never in history has anyone suggested 8:30 AM and yet that’s when I dialed. I got Kamala’s voicemail and I just started rambling. “Hey, it’s Doug. I’m on my way to an early meeting. Again, it’s Doug.” I remember I was trying to grab the words out of the air and just put them back in my mouth. And for what seemed like far too many minutes, I hung up. By the way, Kamala saved that voicemail and she makes me listen to it on every anniversary.

(06:26)
But that message wasn’t the only unusual thing about that day. Now, Kamala, who normally would’ve been working hard at her office, just happened to be waiting at her apartment for a contractor to do some work on her kitchen. I was eating at my desk, which was not a regular occurrence for a busy lawyer like me who appreciated a good business lunch. But that’s when she called me back and we talked for an hour and we laughed. Well, you know that laugh. I love that laugh. And maybe that counted as our first date, or maybe it was that Saturday night when I picked her up and told her, “Buckle up. I’m a really bad driver,” because you can’t hide anything from Kamala Harris, so you might as well own it. And as I got to know her better and just fell in love fast, I learned what drives Kamala.

(07:34)
And it’s what you’ve seen over these past four years and especially these past four weeks. She finds joy in pursuing justice. She stands up to bullies just like my parents taught me to and she likes to see people do well but hates when they’re treated unfairly. She believes this work requires a basic curiosity in just how people are doing. Her empathy is her strength. Over the past decade, Kamala has connected me more deeply to my faith, even though it’s not the same as hers. She comes to synagogue with me for High Holy Day services and I go to church with her for Easter. I get to enjoy her mom’s Chile relleno recipe every Christmas, and she makes a mean brisket for Passover. It brings me right back to my grandmother’s apartment in Brooklyn, you know, the one with the plastic covered couches.

(08:41)
But Kamala has fought against antisemitism and all forms of hate her whole career. She’s the one who encouraged me as second gentleman to take up that fight, which is so personal to me. And those of you who belong to blended families know that they can be a little complicated. But as soon as our kids started calling her Mamala, I knew we’d be okay. Ella calls us a three-headed parenting machine. Kamala and Kirsten, thank you both. Thank you both for always putting your family and the kids first. Now, Cole and Ella’s friends knew that when they come over for Sunday dinner with Mamala, it was going to be real talk. In between taking cooking instructions, they’d have to answer questions about what problem they wanted to solve in the world. They learned that you’ve always got to be prepared because Kamala is going to prosecute the case.

(09:50)
And in the same breath that Cole and Greenley told us that they were engaged, they asked Kamala to officiate their wedding. And in the same way that she always steps up when it matters, Kamala puts so much time into those remarks and she bound them in a book that matched her dark red dress and then turned that into a gift for the happy couple. A few days ago, during this incredible time we’re going through, there was a brief window when Kamala was back at home and I saw her sitting on her favorite chair and in the middle of a wild month, I just hoped that she was having a quiet moment to herself. But then I realized she was on the phone and of course, my mind went to all the potential crises that the vice president could be dealing with. Was it domestic? Was it foreign? Was it campaign? I could see she was focused and all I knew was that it must be something important.

(10:57)
And it turns out it was. Ella had called her. That’s Kamala. That’s Kamala. Those kids are her priorities, and that scene was a perfect map of her heart. She’s always been there for our children and I know she’ll always be there for yours too. Kamala is a joyful warrior. It’s doing for her country what she has always done for the people that she loves. Her passion will benefit all of us when she’s our president. And here’s the thing about joyful warriors. There are still warriors and Kamala is as tough as it comes. Just ask the criminals, the global gangsters, and the witnesses before the Senate Judiciary Committee. She never runs from a fight and she knows the best way to deal with a coward is to take him head on because we all know cowards are weak and Kamala Harris can smell weakness. She doesn’t tolerate any BS. You’ve all seen that look and you know that look I’m talking about. That look is not just a meme. It reflects her true belief in honest and direct leadership. And it’s also why she will not be distracted by nonsense.

(12:30)
Kamala knows that in order to win, we cannot lose focus. America, in this election, you have to decide who to trust with your family’s future. I trusted Kamala with our family’s future. It was the best decision I ever made. This Thursday will be our 10th wedding anniversary, which I know, I know it means I’m about to hear that embarrassing voicemail again. However, that’s not all I’ll be hearing. That same night, I’ll be hearing my wife, Kamala Harris, accept your nomination for President of the United States. And with your help, she will lead with joy and toughness, with that laugh and that look, with compassion and conviction. She’ll lead from the belief that wherever we come from, whatever we look like, we’re strongest when we fight for what we believe in, not just against what we fear. Kamala Harris was exactly the right person for me at an important moment in my life. And at this moment in our nation’s history, she is exactly the right president. Thank you so much.