‘Why Would You Try To Shake My Hand?’ Doug Emhoff Rejects Senator’s Husband Who Snubbed Kamala Harris
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
Former Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff was not interested in shaking the hand of a man who refused to do the same with former Vice President Kamala Harris, his wife.
As vice president, Harris swore in members of the Senate earlier this month. That included Sen. Den Fischer (R-NE), whose husband Bruce Fischer refused to shake Harris’s hand when she extended it for a shake.
Before President Donald Trump was inaugurated on Monday, Harris and Emhoff attended a ceremonial tea, which the Fischers also attended because the senator served as Trump’s inauguration co-chair. According to CNN, Bruce Fischer attempted to shake Emhoff’s hand and was rejected:
At the ceremonial tea at the White House before the motorcades headed to the US Capitol, the former second gentleman refused a handshake from Bruce Fischer, the husband of inauguration co-chair Nebraska Sen. Deb Fischer, a person familiar with the interaction tells CNN.
The tense moment came after a viral exchange earlier this month when Fischer’s husband did not shake Harris’ hand as they stood in the old Senate chamber at the beginning of January for the traditional repetition of the oath and family photo with the vice president. At one point during the interaction Harris encouraged Fischer’s husband forward, saying, “I’m not going to bite, don’t worry.”
After they finished and Harris shook the third-term senator’s hand in congratulations, she reached out to Bruce Fischer, who looked down at her hand and said “thank you.”
A full-length image of the interaction shows that the GOP senator’s husband was holding a cane with one hand and the Bible for his wife’s swearing-in with his other. But the awkwardness of the moment was evident from Harris’ widened eyes and clenched teeth smile.
And it was still on Emhoff’s mind on Monday: “Why would you try to shake my hand,” he told Bruce Fischer according to the person familiar with the interaction, “when you wouldn’t shake my wife’s hand?”
CNN said that neither the senator nor Harris were involved. Bruce Fischer, the report stated, later apologized.
“And by the time they headed to the car to the Capitol, tempers had cooled and there was a cordial conversation which touched on golf, among other things,” CNN added.
