While his sister Ella might have stolen the show [1] at the inauguration, Kamala Harris's stepson Cole Emhoff [2] is every bit as interesting to us! Cole has been suddenly cast into the limelight, thanks to his stepmother running for (and then, of course, actually becoming) vice president, and we're curious to know more about this member of the Second Family. Although he's not a particularly public figure himself and tends to keep his private life, well, private, he has shared a few fun stories about his family [3] and their blended family [4]. As his family settles into their new life in the spotlight, keep reading to find out a few things we've learned so far about the man who calls the VP "Momala."
He's the Older of Two Siblings
Cole, who is 26 years old, is Doug Emhoff's older child from his first marriage to Kerstin Mackin. He has one sister, Ella, who is 21.
He's Part of a Happy Blended Family
Cole was a senior in high school when his father and Harris got together, and he and his sister have both shared stories about adjusting to blended family life — especially one that includes a high-profile politician.
"I remember I saw a tweet that someone did. It was a photo of Kamala at the Kavanaugh hearing, and someone tweeted, like, 'I'd hate to have to look at that face and explain why I'm late for curfew.' And I was thinking, 'I've literally had to do that [5],'" Cole said to The New York Times.
According to Cole, though, their family is equal parts loving and intellectual, with a huge level of support but also a lot of strong opinions going around. "We would just have these real conversations [6] at dinner, almost Socratic, where we would all bounce off each other. It's so interesting when I hear her speak publicly or read about her policy position. I'm like, Okay, I've seen that reflected at the dinner table, so I know it's true to her," he told Glamour.
He's Named After a Jazz Icon
In a 2019 essay for Elle, Harris revealed that her stepchildren are actually both named after jazz music legends. Cole is named for saxophonist John Coltrane [7], while Ella's name honours Ella Fitzgerald.
He's a Few Years Out of College
According to a 2018 Vogue profile of Harris, Cole graduated from Colorado College [8] in May 2017, where he majored in psychology.
He Works in Entertainment
At the time of Harris's 2018 Vogue profile, Cole was working as an assistant at William Morris Endeavour, the famed talent and media agency. Since then, according to his LinkedIn [9], he's moved on to a job as an executive assistant at Plan B Entertainment, a production company co-founded by Brad Pitt [10] that's produced Oscar winners like The Departed and Moonlight.