On February 7, President Joe Biden appeared before the U.S. Congress to deliver the State of the Union address. The Democratic leader reviewed the highlights of his term in office during the last twelve months, receiving both applause and some boos- but his message isn’t what left people talking. Instead, it was a viral moment showing an oddly romantic greeting between First Lady Jill Biden and Kamala Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff.
With a room full of cameras, when the first lady and the vice president’s husband met at the rostrum of Congress, they greeted each other with a kiss. Many people greet each other with a kiss on the cheek, but it looks like they were mouth-to-mouth.
The viral moment sparked a debate, with some adamant that it was a kiss on the lips. But some believe that it’s nothing more than the optical effect due to the angle of the cameras that recorded the smooch.
Kamala Harris’ reaction
On January 8, hours after the president delivered his second State of the Union address, Vice President Harris, was interviewed on Despierta America (Univision). During the brief chat, correspondent Edwin Pittile asked about the viral video of her husband and Jill.
The official reacted with some surprise and denied having seen the video. Like a professional, Harris evaded the question and shifted focus on the joint work her husband and the first lady have done against anti-Semitism.
“She’s just been to Poland, Krakow and just visited Auschwitz to fight against hatred against immigrants, and sadly we’ve been seeing it in our country,” Harris said. She ended the interview by noting that Jill and Emhoff care about overlooked people.
Not the first time
Twitter users circled back to a similar situation in 2016 when Jill was in a similar situation with Jeff Bezos. Michelle Obama and Jill hosted an employment event for vets that Bezos attended.
Jill greeted the billionaire, and the camera seemed to capture a kiss on the mouth between the two. In the end, it turned out to be the camera angle, and they actually kissed on the cheek.