Sen. Kamala Harris’ husband’s infidelity could protect him from opponents who attack former President Trump as a habitual womanizer, a top public relations expert told Fox News Digital.
Doug Emhoff cheated on his first wife, Kirsten Emhoff, with their daughter’s blonde nanny and got her pregnant. The Daily Mail reported. Last week, the couple ended their 19-year marriage after Kirsten found out about the affair.
Emhoff quickly admitted to the affair. Statement to CNN.
“During my first marriage, Kirsten and I went through difficult times because of my actions,” Emhoff told the outlet. “I took responsibility for it, and in the years since then, we’ve overcome our challenges as a family and have bounced back stronger.”
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Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and running mate Doug Emhoff wave as they board Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, August 6, 2024. (Brendan Smiarowski/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
Judah Engelmeyer, a New York City-based public relations expert, said the salacious headline could thwart Democrats’ attempts to re-stigmatize Trump as a lifelong scumbag in an effort to sway voters, especially women.
“People often say that Donald Trump is a womanizer, but there’s a hidden secret that they see as hypocrisy,” Engelmayer, CEO of Herald PR, told Fox News Digital.
“This is her husband’s past life. It’s a stain on him from decades ago. It’s really not her fault.”
While Trump has never tried to hide his reputation as a playboy, Democratic politicians tend to portray themselves as morally upstanding, Engelmeyer noted.
“If Republicans are smart, they’ll take advantage of that,” he said. “Everyone knows Trump’s record, and he wears it like a badge. Voting for Donald Trump is not voting for Mother Teresa, but Democrats say that doesn’t matter to them.”
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Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, Vice President Harris, and President Biden attended the Juneteenth Concert on the South Lawn of the White House on June 10, 2024. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
Engelmeyer said the campaign was right to quickly acknowledge the alleged indiscretion, saying Harris knew about the affair before they were married and the Biden 2020 campaign disclosed it while vetting her as a running mate, CNN reported.
“Not commenting would have made it seem like they were hiding something, and denying it would have made them lie,” Engelmayer said. “That would have been the worst approach, and they didn’t do that.”
Although Emhoff’s article is damaging, Trump’s opponents will likely ignore it on Election Day, Engelmeyer said.
“I think most of the mainstream media, political pundits and advocacy groups are very vocal about not wanting Donald Trump to win, so anything that goes on right now in the Harris-Waltz campaign is excusable,” he noted.
Kamala Harris’ husband Doug Emhoff admits to affair that led to the breakup of first marriage
Kirsten Emhoff spoke out about her ex-husband Doug Emhoff’s affair with the nanny. (Tomaso Boddy/Getty Images)
But he said Emhoff’s ill-advised actions could have an impact on at least some of the independent voters who remain.
“To blind Democrats and Republicans, that doesn’t matter,” he argued, “but to voters who care about the issues and what these people stand for, it will matter.”
Todd Shapiro, who has coached high-profile clients for more than 40 years, predicted the incident would quickly fade from voters’ memory.
“It’s not going to have any impact on the race,” said Shapiro, founder of Todd Shapiro Associates, “but it could allow Trump to use it to neutralize his infidelity allegations and make the issue irrelevant.”
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Stormy Daniels and Donald Trump (Getty Images)
Shapiro said infidelity no longer plagues politicians the way it once did, and social mores have changed.
“I think Donald Trump has pretty much removed the controversy around using the word infidelity in a political context,” he said. “In a place like France, if the president has an affair, it has no impact on his presidency, as long as it doesn’t affect his duties as president.”
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He also stressed that Emhoff’s affair predated his relationship with the vice president.
“This is her husband’s past life,” he said. “It’s a stain on him from decades ago. It’s really not her fault.”
Emhoff has two children with his ex-wife. He married Harris in 2014 and she is his children’s stepmother.
