Doug Emhoff Says Friends Were Jealous of His Tim Walz ‘Bro Hug’

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff spent much of his new hour-long interview on Pod Save America extolling the virtues of his “super bada–” wife who “really gives a s–t” about the American people. But it was the moment when he discussed his newfound friendship with Kamala Harris’ running mate, Tim Walz, that he really lit up.

Before they shared the stage at the Democratic ticket’s first joint rally in Philadelphia last month, Emhoff had only met Walz briefly once before. “Then I didn’t see him until that night in Philly when we jumped up on the stage,” Emhoff said. “And so we kind of bonded backstage and we get up there and we just do this big bro bear hug. And I cannot tell you how many texts I got from my actual friends and actual family members, like, ‘You never hugged me like that! What’s going on? You literally just met this guy!”

Asked by co-host Jon Lovett if he “hit him on the back to preserve your heteronormativity,” Emhoff replied, “No, if you see the video, we just did this full on bro hug.”

Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty

Emhoff also ribbed Walz for shouting, “I’ll sleep when I’m dead!” explaining,“I’ll sleep on Nov. 6, because I want to actually enjoy the fruits of winning this election.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Emhoff hyped up his wife’s first big debate against Donald Trump next week. As the person who has “debated” her most over the years, he said, “I haven’t won one.”

“I realize if we’re talking about something, any really good lawyer will lay little traps for you along the way,” Emhoff continued. “And as I’m going through this discussion about some husband-wife thing, I’ll say, ‘Oh… that’s what you’re doing!’”

For more, listen to Jon Lovett on The Last Laugh podcast.