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Politics and Government News
Merrit Kennedy, NPR and Eric McDaniel, NPR

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff tests positive for COVID-19

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Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff arrive before President Joe Biden speaks at an event to celebrate Black History Month in the East Room of the White House, Monday, Feb. 28, 2022, in Washington.
Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff arrive before President Joe Biden speaks at an event to celebrate Black History Month in the East Room of the White House, Monday, Feb. 28, 2022, in Washington.
Patrick Semansky/AP

Second gentleman Douglas Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Harris, has tested positive for COVID-19, a spokesperson for Harris said on Tuesday.

The vice president has so far tested negative, said spokesperson Sabina Singh.

Both Emhoff and Harris withdrew from a scheduled appearances at an Equal Pay Day event this evening at the White House.

In his remarks at the Equal Pay Day event, President Biden said that the vice president "chose not to take a chance since her husband had contracted COVID, although he's feeling very well, I'm told."

Earlier in the day, Harris attended a bill-signing event with President Joe Biden, 79, and a large group of Democratic lawmakers, including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Vermont Sen. Senator Patrick Leahy.

The 81-year-old Democrats are respectively second and third-in-line for the presidency, behind Harris.

Vice President Kamala Harris listens as President Joe Biden speaks before signing the Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2022 in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on Tuesday, March 15, 2022. Harris' office later announced that her husband, second gentleman Douglas Emhoff, had tested positive for COVID-19.
Vice President Kamala Harris listens as President Joe Biden speaks before signing the Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2022 in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on Tuesday, March 15, 2022. Harris' office later announced that her husband, second gentleman Douglas Emhoff, had tested positive for COVID-19.
Patrick Semansky/AP

Later in the day, Harris hosted an event at the White House with Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and current and former members of the U.S. women's soccer team.

The second gentleman has been active in promoting the administration's pandemic response measures, including travelling the country last year to visit clinics and vaccination sites.

The White House has not released information about whether Emhoff, who has received three doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, is experiencing symptoms.

NPR's Scott Detrow contributed reporting.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.