Doug Emhoff’s daughter and ex-wife have criticized Ohio GOP Sen. J.D. Vance after comments he once made referring to Vice President Kamala Harris as childless resurfaced.
During a 2021 interview with Tucker Carlson on Fox News, Vance — now former President Donald Trump’s running mate — said Harris was one of the “childless hot women” who “want to make the rest of the country miserable, too.” Vance added: “If you look at Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez]the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by childless people.”
Harris is the stepmother of Emhoff’s two children, Ella and Cole, who refer to the vice president as “Momala”.
In a statement to NBC News, Kerstin Emhoff called Vance’s attacks “unfounded,” adding, “For more than 10 years, since Cole and Ella were teenagers, Kamala has co-parented Doug and I. protective and always present. I love our blended family and am grateful to have her in it.”
Ella Emhoff, 25, posted a screenshot to her Instagram Story in support of her mother’s statement, adding, “How can you not have kids when you have cute kids like Cole and me?”
She also tagged her mother’s name on Instagram, writing, “Say it louder for the people in the back.”
At the bottom of the image, Ella Emhoff wrote, “I love all three of my parents.”
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who now has two children, also criticized Vance’s comments, saying in an interview with CNN earlier this week: “What’s really sad is that he said this after Chasten and I went through a pretty painful setback in our adoption journey. He couldn’t have known that, but maybe that’s why you shouldn’t be talking about other people’s children.”
“This is… about the families of the people whose well-being will depend on us moving into a future led by someone like Kamala Harris, who is focused on expanding prosperity and freedom, the well-being of our families,” Buttigieg added .
NBC News has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.
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