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Pittsburgh pitch

Emhoff seeks to assure Jewish voters: Harris is a dependable ally

Democrats’ fears of losing some Jewish supporters to Trump was the subtext of Emhoff’s Pittsburgh speech

Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff speaks to residents on behalf of his wife Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris during a campaign rally on October 24, 2024 in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Speaking to Jewish voters in Pittsburgh on Monday night, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff did not explicitly acknowledge fears that some longtime Jewish voters might opt to support former President Donald Trump over Emhoff’s wife, Vice President Kamala Harris. 

But that concern was the unstated backdrop of his address, which seemed designed to assuage Jewish Americans by offering a straightforward closing argument: Don’t worry, Emhoff argued. Harris gets it. She’s on our side. 

“Let me be direct and answer the question that Jews have asked for generations. Yes, she feels it in her gut. Kamala feels it, as we say, in her kishkes,” said Emhoff, whose speech was timed to coincide with the six-year anniversary of the shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue, which was Sunday. 

Emhoff, the first Jewish spouse of a president or vice president, leaned into his marriage to Harris as evidence of her Jewish communal bona fides. He touted her political history, such as prosecuting antisemitic hate crimes as San Francisco district attorney and voting, while a senator, to condemn antisemitism. But mostly, he attempted to outline why the issues about which Jewish Americans care are also personal for Harris.

“Anyone can say the right things on the campaign trail, and then go home and turn it off. But that’s not Kamala. Because when Kamala walks through the door at the end of the day, that door has a mezuzah on it,” said Emhoff. 

Since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks last year, he acknowledged, many Jewish Americans have told him they feel lonely. “It didn’t always feel this lonely to be Jewish in America,” he said.

“I’ll tell you one place I’ve never felt that, where I’ve actually felt the opposite, and that’s in the home I share with Kamala Harris,” Emhoff added. “When we’re shaken, we go home and talk to the people that we love. So after Charlottesville, after the Tree of Life, after Oct. 7, the person that I turned to and talked to was my wife.”

He continued with a list, touching on several moments from the past year that have deep emotional resonance for American Jews. At each of those moments, Emhoff said, he shared his sadness with his wife. 

“After Hamas brutally executed Hersh [Goldberg-Polin] and the other hostages, she and I grieved together. When we see the antisemitic attacks that are happening week by week in America, like the students wearing kippot who were assaulted while walking to the Hillel on this very campus, like the federation building in Detroit that was vandalized on the anniversary of Oct. 7, like the historic synagogue in Philadelphia that was defiled just last week, like the man who was shot in Chicago while walking to Shabbat services just two days ago, Kamala and I recommit ourselves to extinguishing this epidemic of hate.”

Emhoff also quoted from Harris’ own speeches, highlighting her support for Israel after Iran’s recent ballistic missile attack. Here, too, he offered a window into who Harris is behind closed doors. 

“Her commitment to the security of Israel is unwavering, and I know this not just because of what she’s said publicly, though she has said this through her entire career consistently. But also by what she does and says when it’s just us,” he said. “I know what’s in her soul. She feels what you and I, and Jews across America, are feeling today. She gets it.”

After outlining Harris’ views, Emhoff turned his attention to Trump. He referenced the “antisemitic and racist speeches” at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday, where a host of speakers — most notably comedian Tony Hinchcliffe — faced criticism for incendiary remarks about minority communities, including the Jewish community. The Trump campaign attempted to distance itself from some of Hinchcliffe’s statements on Monday. 

“Whenever chaos and cruelty are given a green light, Jew-hatred is historically not far behind,” said Emhoff. “That matters so much today because Donald Trump is nothing if not an agent of chaos and cruelty.”

Trump, Emhoff argued, would “turn his back on Israel and the Jewish people” if “it suited his selfish interests.” 

“There is a fire in this country. We either pour water on it, or we pour gasoline on it,” said Emhoff. “That is the choice every one of us faces right now. Because fighting antisemitism and all forms of hate is the responsibility of every American.”

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