(Headline USA) Second gentleman Doug Emhoff admitted this week that he and Vice President Kamala Harris are living out the political satire show Veep, according to the Daily Mail.
Harris has been compared to the award-winning HBO comedy’s main character, Vice President Selina Meyer, played by actress Julia Louis–Dreyfus, who is known for her frequent gaffes, embarrassing lack of common sense and inappropriate behavior toward staff.
When asked on Wednesday by Bravo’s Andy Cohen whether he’s ever watched the show, Emhoff replied, “We’re living it.”
Q. "Do you watch Veep?"
VP Kamala Harris' husband Doug Emhoff: "We're living it." pic.twitter.com/SYt2qYSGJP
— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) February 21, 2024
Like Harris, Meyer in the show becomes the country’s first female vice president after awkwardly stumbling into power. Her convoluted and nonsensical speech patterns have been likened to Harris’s frequent word salads.
A running joke also finds the character regularly asking, “Did the president call?” with the response always being negative.
Naturally—as one might expect for an HBO series starring Louis–Dreyfus, the far-left billionaire heiress to a French shipping magnate—Meyer ultimately comes off as a somewhat sympathetic, feminist antihero, with a hearty dose of progressive messaging and right-wing lampooning injected into the show’s subtext.
Emhoff, apparently, did not see an issue with the comparison.
“It’s non-stop,” Emhoff said of his wife’s job. “When the phone rings after hours, no one is calling to say hi. It is all something very intense. It is a lot and I’m so proud of her.”
The second gentleman was also asked by Cohen whether he and Harris were close to President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, offering a thoroughly ambiguous response.
“We’re working so hard, but we’re with them all the time,” Emhoff responded. “The four of us together, it’s great.”
Emhoff then bragged about inventing his role as the first second gentleman, saying he sees his primary responsibility as supporting Harris.
“I also didn’t want to get stuck on any gender norms or anything, and here I’m supporting the first woman to be vice president,” he said.
“On a dime I’m traveling the country, traveling the world, doing everything I can to … support her as a husband first, because if I’m not being great, it is almost like national security issue,” he continued. “I don’t need her mad at me; I need her to be focused.”
