Doug Emhoff on Kamala Harris’ Converse Obsession: ‘When I Met Her, It Was Chucks and Jeans’
VP-elect Kamala Harris and Douglas Emhoff, the soon-to-be first Second Gentleman, are making the TV rounds this weekend.
A few days before Harris is inaugurated during a historic moment, the couple will appear on “CBS Sunday Morning” tomorrow. And in a preview clip, veteran television host Jane Pauley asks them both for the story behind Harris’s favorite sneakers.
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“It became a story. I’ve always worn Chucks. It’s my casual go-to. I grew up with Chucks. I just love them. They’re comfortable,” she says.
“I can attest,” Emhoff responds. “This wasn’t just something she started doing on the campaign. When I met her, it was Chucks and jeans.”
Tomorrow on #CBSSunday
Vice President-Elect @KamalaHarris and her husband, @DouglasEmhoff, sit down with Jane Pauley and open up about their relationship and the story behind those @Converse sneakers https://t.co/Ok50jH6hkn pic.twitter.com/gtZ27cJ2AM
— CBS Sunday Morning 🌞 (@CBSSunday) January 16, 2021
He continued, “People ask me all the time, ‘What’s she really like?’ I say that she’s shockingly normal. I think that’s really an extension of who she is,” said Emhoff, who just launched the “Second Gentleman” twitter account.
Of course, this isn’t the first time the Harris/Converse connection has been explored. She wore them many times on the campaign trail since first joining the Democratic ticket with President-elect Joe Biden.
In September, the senator shared a video of herself exiting a plane in the sneakers with the caption, “Laced up and ready to win.”
A month later, she talked about her affinity for the brand again during a stop at Social Status, James Whitner’s store in Charlotte.
In an Instagram post on the FN 2020 Retailer of the Year’s personal account, Harris posed against a backdrop of Converse kicks — created by artist Nina Chanel Abney — with a huge 2020 embroidered on each shoe as well as campaign buttons. (Whitner said she did leave the shop with some pairs.)
When she isn’t in Converse, Harris also prefers footwear from a few top brands including everything from Prada booties to Timberland work boots. She wore Manolo Blahink for her victory speech on Nov. 7. While Harris will likely be wearing heels for her inauguration on Wednesday, she will probably wish she was in her tried-and-true Chucks.
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