Second Gentleman Merchandise? The Harris Campaign Leans In.
The New York Times
An old photo of Doug Emhoff caught the internet’s attention, and Kamala Harris’s staff seized a fund-raising opportunity.
Megan Burk was on a mission. After President Biden announced he would not seek re-election, Ms. Burk, a bartender in Wilmington, N.C., watched as some people on social media quickly embraced Vice President Kamala Harris as a presidential candidate.
A drumbeat of derision from Ms. Harris’s political opponents (over her laughter, her tendency to complicate sentences, her dancing) was turned on its head by her fan base, known as the KHive, which declared all of those qualities to be “brat” — a reference to a Charli XCX album.
Ms. Burk, 40, who describes herself as “O.G. KHive,” thought some of that attention should focus on Ms. Harris’s husband, Doug Emhoff. She then recalled an old photo she had saved on her phone that Mr. Emhoff shared on Twitter in 2020 during the brief “Me at 20” social media trend.
In the photo, Mr. Emhoff, wearing a Laguna Beach T-shirt, looks directly into the camera, which captures him bathed in warm light in an indistinct setting. His skin is tanned, his hair is thick, and he has a shadow of stubble along his jawline. His lips are pursed, allowing only the slightest of smiles.
“There’s a soul behind the eyes,” said Amy Odell, who writes the popular fashion newsletter Back Row. She compared Mr. Emhoff to the N.F.L. star Travis Kelce, who has been lauded for acting as a booster for his girlfriend Taylor Swift.
Ms. Burk clearly agreed, posting the photo on X and suggesting Mr. Emhoff should be “TikTok’s white boy of the month.” The post, in which Ms. Burk tagged Mr. Emhoff’s account, has been viewed more than 2.2 million times.
