A clip of second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and his daughter attending night one of the Democratic National Convention has circulated online, with conservatives describing Emhoff’s actions as “weird.”
The moment in question shows Emhoff with his arm around his 25-year-old daughter Ella—a model, fashion designer, and stepdaughter of Vice President Kamala Harris—who is seen hugging Emhoff with her arm around his shoulders.
Supporters of former President Donald Trump shared videos of the moment on X, formerly known as Twitter, such as conservative commentator Benny Johnson, who described the moment as “creepy.”
Conservative activist and Turning Point USA cofounder Charlie Kirk posted a screenshot of the moment on his X account as well, writing alongside the picture, “Totally not weird.” As of Tuesday afternoon, the post had garnered over 5.4 million views. Podcaster and self-described MAGA supporter Scott Adams also criticized the moment, writing on X, “I’m going to go with ‘weird’ to describe Doug Emhoff and his daughter.”
Newsweek sent an email to Harris’ campaign seeking comment Tuesday evening.
Some conservatives also critiqued a moment between President Joe Biden and his youngest daughter, Ashely, who spoke at the DNC Monday night prior to Biden delivering the keynote speech. Johnson posted a video of Biden hugging his daughter on the DNC stage to his Instagram account, describing it as “the most CRINGE moment” of the convention’s opening night.
Democrats started labeling Republicans and their policies as “creepy” and “weird” last month, an attack first coined by Minnesota Governor and Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz that quickly picked up attention online. Trump’s campaign has repeatedly dismissed the label, and the former president has responded to the attacks by calling Harris “a weird person.”
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Some users on X shot back at conservatives labeling Emhoff as “weird” by pointing to past photos of Trump with his oldest daughter, Ivanka Trump. The former president has faced backlash for making reported inappropriate comments about his daughter, who served as a White House advisor during her father’s first term.
During a 2006 appearance on ABC’s The View, Trump said while sitting next to Ivanka that if she “weren’t my daughter, perhaps I’d be dating her.” In a 2015 interview with Rolling Stone, Trump reportedly said that Ivanka is “really something, and what a beauty, that one. If I weren’t happily married and, ya know, her father…”
“The fact that Kirk called this sweet, innocent moment between Doug and Emma Emhoff ‘weird’ when there are numerous creepy photos of Donald Trump leering at or posing creepily with Ivanka is hilarious,” one user wrote on X. “Trump said he would *date his own daughter*!”
“This is why they’re trying to make like Doug Emhoff hugging his daughter like a daughter is weird,” wrote another user, who reposted a compilation video of Trump’s past comments about Ivanka.