The second gentleman wants more men to join the abortion fight: From the Politics Desk
Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the campaign trail, the White House and Capitol Hill.
In today’s edition, Washington correspondent Yamiche Alcindor sits down for an exclusive interview with second gentleman Doug Emhoff. Plus, chief political analyst Chuck Todd explains how a key dynamic is missing from the 2024 presidential campaign.
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Doug Emhoff is pushing more men to advocate for abortion rights
By Yamiche Alcindor
ATLANTA — Second gentleman Doug Emhoff is pushing for more men to become involved in advocating for abortion rights, telling NBC News in an exclusive interview that he sees a role for men in the ongoing battle over access.
Emhoff, who partnered with a group called Men4Choice to convene a panel in Atlanta, said men must see the fight over abortion access as not just a women’s issue, but a family issue. Ahead of the November election, he plans to mobilize men across the country around the issue and to stress the importance of men being allies to women regarding reproductive health care.
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“This is an issue of fairness to women. Women are dying,” Emhoff said. “It’s affecting man’s ability to plan their lives. And it’s also an issue of what’s next, what other freedoms are at risk. And these freedoms are affecting all Americans, not just women.”
Emhoff, who became the first second gentleman in U.S. history after the election of his wife, Vice President Kamala Harris, said he feels a responsibility to talk about abortion. He believes millions of Americans are suffering from the consequences of Roe v. Wade having been overturned by the Supreme Court in 2022.
As part of his efforts, Emhoff has been holding events in states like Florida, Arizona and North Carolina with Men4Choice. He has also been discussing the topic with men in his personal life.
“I’m talking about this with my other dad friends,” he said. “I’m talking about it with my son. And it’s not just because I also have a daughter. I have a son and we talk about it, about how this is going to impact him and how he’s going to start a family or not.”
Harris has become the most prominent voice in the administration on abortion. During his event on Tuesday — timed to mark the fifth anniversary of the passage of Georgia’s six-week ban on most abortions — Emhoff echoed both Harris and President Joe Biden by saying he saw the changing abortion landscape as a “health care crisis” caused by former President Donald Trump.
Read more from Emhoff's interview with NBC News →
The missing ingredient to win the 2024 election
By Chuck Todd
Unlike most elections, voters in 2024 don’t have to imagine what a Joe Biden or Donald Trump presidency is going to look like — they already have that picture. It’s the ultimate choice election, and whatever the outcome, voters can’t say they weren’t warned.
But the uncomfortable truth about this choice election is that the last slice of people deciding which way to vote don’t love their options. Will they hold their noses and vote for one of the presidents? Will they decide to stay home? Will they simply vote third-party or skip the presidential race altogether on their ballots?
The question I’ve been pondering — and what many a strategist in both the Trump and the Biden camps is trying to figure out — is what these last undecided voters need to hear. What’s the best way to get them off the fence, whether it’s the Biden-or-Trump fence or the “do I bother to vote” fence?
Both campaigns are having an easier time trying to message to the disaffected partisans. Essentially, both parties are trying to lure their disaffected partisans back to the fold by scaring them off the other side with cheap “guilt by association” tactics — think “Soros-funded progressives” or “MAGA conservatives.”
Biden’s team also believes the issue of abortion is a way to get voters who aren’t thrilled with Biden to show up on his behalf, especially younger voters. Trump’s folks believe the border and the economy should be enough to get those Nikki Haley Republicans and others in the GOP who don’t like Trump’s character to hold their noses and “come home.”
But there’s a final chunk of voters who I think are looking for one or both of the candidates to do something else: admit some failure in their tenures and express regret for decisions they did or didn’t make. Ultimately, voters want to know the candidates they support are actually listening and responding to their concerns, even if those concerns change.
That’s all from The Politics Desk for now. If you have feedback — likes or dislikes — email us at politicsnewsletter@nbcuni.com
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