• Video
  • Shop
  • Culture
  • Family
  • Wellness
  • Food
  • Living
  • Style
  • Travel
  • News
  • Book Club
  • Newsletter
  • Privacy Policy
  • Your US State Privacy Rights
  • Children's Online Privacy Policy
  • Interest-Based Ads
  • Terms of Use
  • Do Not Sell My Info
  • Contact Us
  • © 2026 ABC News
  • News

Doug Emhoff blasts Gov. Sanders' remarks about Harris not having biological children

1:25
Doug Emhoff blasts Gov. Sanders' remarks about Harris not having biological children
Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images, FILE
ByEmily Chang
September 19, 2024, 4:02 PM

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff blasted remarks made by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who said Vice President Kamala Harris "doesn't have anything to keep her humble" because she does not have biological children.

"We know that all parents, no matter how you become one, make the same sacrifices and revel in the same joys of raising children as any parent anywhere," Emhoff defended his wife while speaking at a campaign event in Brooklyn, New York, Wednesday evening.

"As if keeping women humble, whether you have children or not, is something we should strive for. It is not," the second gentleman said. "Women in this country will never humble themselves before Donald Trump."

Related Articles

MORE: Sarah Huckabee Sanders swipes at Kamala Harris for not having biological children

Emhoff referred to Sanders' comment as "unbelievable," and he expressed his appreciation for his wife, ex-wife Kerstin Emhoff, and their "big, beautiful, blessed family."

Harris is the stepmom to Cole and Ella Emhoff, her husband's children from his first marriage.

Kerstin Emhoff jumped to Harris' defense as well, responding to a video of Sanders on X.

In this Aug. 20, 2024 file photo Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff exits after speaking during the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago.
Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images, FILE

"Kamala Harris has spent her entire career working for the people, ALL families. That keeps you pretty humble," she wrote Tuesday.

Related Articles

MORE: Possible first gentleman Doug Emhoff? Who is Kamala Harris' husband?

Sanders had been speaking at a Michigan town hall with former President Donald Trump on Tuesday when she made the comments. "So my kids keep me humble. Unfortunately, Kamala Harris doesn't have anything keeping her humble," she said.

Former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump attends a town hall meeting moderated by Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) at the Dort Financial Center in Flint, Mich., on Sept. 17, 2024.
Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images

During a visit Wednesday to a Bitcoin bar in Greenwich Village, New York, Trump was asked about Sanders' remarks and whether Harris should be attacked for not having biological children.

"Well, I just don't know what I think about it, you know," Trump said during the event.

Ohio Sen. JD Vance previously commented on Harris and other women for not having children with his well-known "childless cat ladies" comment.

In the 2021 clip, which only recently resurfaced, Vance accused Harris and the Democrats of being "a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they've made, and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable too."

Related Articles

MORE: JD Vance slammed for 'childless cat ladies' comment

There has been much backlash to Vance's remark, and some have even made mocked the comment by making it their own. Most famously, Taylor Swift signed her endorsement for Harris as a "childless cat lady."

ABC News' Will McDuffie, Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, Fritz Farrow, and Chris Donovan contributed to this report.

Up Next in News—

Gas station clerk speaks out after foiling alleged kidnapping

April 15, 2026

Oklahoma high school principal takes down would-be shooter, hailed as hero

April 15, 2026

Family seeks answers after influencer Ashlee Jenae is found dead on vacation in Tanzania

April 15, 2026

Couple shares warning after nearly losing down payment in mortgage fraud

April 10, 2026

Shop GMA Favorites

ABC will receive a commission for purchases made through these links.

Sponsored Content by Taboola

The latest lifestyle and entertainment news and inspiration for how to live your best life - all from Good Morning America.
  • Contests
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Do Not Sell My Info
  • Children’s Online Privacy Policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Your US State Privacy Rights
  • Interest-Based Ads
  • About Nielsen Measurement
  • Press
  • Feedback
  • Shop FAQs
  • ABC News
  • ABC
  • All Videos
  • All Topics
  • Sitemap

© 2026 ABC News
  • Privacy Policy— 
  • Your US State Privacy Rights— 
  • Children's Online Privacy Policy— 
  • Interest-Based Ads— 
  • Terms of Use— 
  • Do Not Sell My Info— 
  • Contact Us— 

© 2026 ABC News