Donald Trump’s campaign has faced backlash for important and unimportant remarks made during the former president’s re-election efforts. But they are having quite a hard time shaking the negative PR from recent comments that seem to belittle Democratic nominee Kamala Harris simply for not having biological children.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the GOP governor of Arkansas and former press secretary for Trump’s first administration, has been sent through the wringer in the past 48 hours for comments she made during a September 17 campaign event in Flint, Michigan, in which she prefaced Trump’s speech to supporters. The GOP leader shared a personal anecdote about her one of her children, saying that motherhood is her most important job.
Sanders gratefully pointed out that her kids are a “permanent reminder of what’s important” in life, adding that they “keep me humble.” She then took a different tone, saying that Harris “doesn’t have anything keeping her humble.” The comments sparked intense backlash from public figures and voters alike as they called out the governor for criticizing Harris for not having biological children.
The vice president’s husband, Doug Emhoff, is the latest to chime in on the backlash. He said to a crowd during a Democratic campaign event in New York this week that Harris was criticized for being the stepmother to his children. He added that, since they are not her blood relatives, she has nothing “in her life” to help her with humility.
Emhoff has two adult children, both of whom reportedly have good relationships with their stepmother, his wife. The second gentleman said mocked the assumption that Sanders was insinuating that “keeping women humble,” those with and without kids, is “something we should strive for.” He then praised his wife for having “kept Trump humble” during the September 10 presidential debate.
Bryan Lanza, one of Trump’s senior advisors, also criticized the comments. He said he was “blessed to have a stepmother” and said Sanders’ words were “actually offensive.” Lanza also lamented that he is “disappointed” in the governor’s words and anticipated “criticism from the campaign” for saying so.
