Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff shocked a couple thousand gay and queer Black men backing his wife, Kamala Harris, for president when he made a guest appearance on an organizing call Thursday evening.

Emhoff promised Harris would “be there” for the LGBTQ+ community moving forward — as she has been in the past.

“As it relates to this wonderful, beautiful community of Black gay men, she has always been beside you, with you, has had your back, and always will have your back, just like she’s going to have everyone else’s back,” Emhoff said.

Emhoff also told a story of being caught by surprise by President Biden’s announcement that he was dropping out of the presidential race on Sunday, when he said he happened to be in Los Angeles with a gay couple — friends of his — after taking a one-hour SoulCycle class with them in West Hollywood.

“We’re out there having coffee, messing around and talking, and … people are coming up to me, so it’s now, like, after the announcement has gone out, and my friend’s partner said, ‘Um, you need to look at this,’ and I said, ‘What?’” Emhoff said.

What the friend was holding up was Biden’s letter to the country announcing he was dropping out.

“Of course I didn’t have my phone, so I ran and ran and got into our car, and of course my phone is just on fire, and it’s basically, ‘Call Kamala,’ ‘Call Kamala,’ ‘Call Kamala,’ from everyone,” Emhoff said. “And of course, the first thing she said was, ‘Where the … were you? I need you.’”

Since then, Emhoff said, it’s been a “whirlwind.”

“We’ve just been hustling — I’ve barely even seen her or talked to her since this all happened,” he said.

Emhoff joined the call — touted as an organizing, fundraising and informational gathering for “Black Gay and Queer Men for Harris” — when there were about 2,250 people on the call. He spoke after several prominent Black queer men spoke, including former CNN anchor Don Lemon.

The call was one of many identity-inspired calls being organized in support of Harris, held just prior to another, larger, more star-studded call for the broader LGBTQ+ community organized in part by the Human Rights Campaign.

Emhoff was introduced by Dorien Paul Blythers, a former Harris campaign staffer and founder of the Los Angeles-based social impact organization Good Rebel, who has worked closely with Emhoff in the past.

Blythers said he knows Harris as a fighter — one who fights for marginalized communities, in particular.

“I like to think of her often as one of us — someone who is often underestimated, stereotyped and overlooked, when in fact, we know that we are exceptionally prepared, we’re incredibly dynamic and overqualified,” Blythers said.

He said while everyone on the call may love Harris, “there’s one person who I know loves her even more” — then introduced Emhoff.

“Hey everyone!” Emhoff said with a laugh.

Emhoff thanked Blythers, saying they used to “drive in the car together on the campaign trail,” when Emhoff had one staffer — and that was usually Blythers. He apologized for subjecting Blythers to “terrible ‘80s music” on those trips — and thanked him for being a leader.

“You’ve always been there for Kamala, and for me and our family,” he said. “And now, just like you’ve been there for her, she’s going to be there for you and the rest of us.”

Emhoff heaped praise on Biden.

“I love that man so much. He has been there for all of us. He’s been there for your community, my community, all of us,” he said.

“But now we’ve got to support Kamala Harris, because she has a vision for America that we all have a place in,” Emhoff said. “She is talking about the future, not the past. She’s talking about a world where there’s freedom, a world where we value everyone, a world where we stick up for people, a world where we fight against bullies — and we’re fighting against the ultimate bully right now.”

Emhoff said he is “in awe” of his wife now, “as her husband but as a proud American, as somebody who loves our country.”

He briefly mentioned Trump, but then said, “I don’t want to get into all that, because I heard the last speaker talking about the hellscape that our country will be [in] if somehow that guy who was a terrible president the first time somehow gets back.”

“We can’t imagine a future like that,” Emhoff said.

Before dropping off the call, Emhoff said he was going to “go upstairs” to see Harris — “because I haven’t seen her in four or five days, I’m going to give her a big hug, I’m going to say, ‘Go get some rest, honey,’ because we’ve got about 102-ish days left to save our country.”

The call was organized by civil rights lawyer Alphonso David, civil rights leader and Color of Change president Rashad Robinson, and journalist, professor and community organizer Emil Wilbekin. It was attended by men from across the country — with all of them dropping where they were dialing in from into the chat.

There was heavy representation from Atlanta, the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore area, and New York, but also people from Florida and Louisiana and Arkansas.

Robinson said the call of gay and queer Black men tapped into something unique and important.

“I’ve been thinking so much about the connections between what we are facing in this upcoming election, and the story of Black gay and queer men,” he said.

“In so many ways, we have had to fight for our place at the table. We’ve had to fight to make sure our relationships are recognized and treated fairly. We’ve had to fight to make sure that we were fully integrated into the life of the community, all while sometimes doing so much hidden work and unseen work to make our communities beautiful, our communities whole, our communities excellent,” he said.

“We have had to be resilient through so many challenges the way our sister will have to be resilient throughout this election,” he said. “So we know what it looks like to fight. We know what it looks like to be the underdog — and what it looks like to win.”

California Senate Republicans are calling out Gov. Gavin Newsom for what they say is a “PR stunt,” after he announced a new initiative to dismantle homeless encampments across the state through an executive order. 

The Republicans ripped Newsom in a press release after he announced the initiative Thursday. His office said the governor has ordered “state agencies and departments to adopt clear policies that urgently address homeless encampments while respecting the dignity and well-being of all Californians.”

“It’s about damn time! Letting people live and die on the streets or in our parks is unsafe and unsanitary,” said Senate Minority Leader Brian W. Jones, R-San Diego. 

“I introduced a proposal earlier this year that would have provided even greater and more immediate solutions. While I am cautiously optimistic that the governor has finally taken note of the urgency of this problem, albeit many years later than needed, Californians deserve government for the people, not the PR hits.”

GOV NEWSOM ORDERS HOMELESS ENCAMPMENTS TORN DOWN ACROSS CALIFORNIA: ‘NO MORE EXCUSES’

Senate Bill 1011, introduced by Jones and all Senate Republicans in February, was a bipartisan effort that would have gone even further in clearing homeless encampments but was rejected by Democrats in the Senate Committee on Public Safety. 

Senate Republicans have introduced a number of bills in recent years to address the rampant and growing California homeless crisis but have been largely met with resistance from Newsom and Democrats. 

“Homelessness is one of the biggest challenges we face today, and it is imperative we take swift, decisive and effective action to address it,” said Sen. Roger Niello, R-Fair Oaks. “This executive order is a good step, but it will require significant follow-through to ensure its effectiveness.” 

The statement from Newsom’s office said the executive order “directs state agencies and departments to adopt humane and dignified policies to urgently address encampments on state property, including by taking necessary and deliberate steps to notify and support the people inhabiting the encampment prior to removal.”

The governor claims this initiative was prompted by the Supreme Court’s decision in Grants Pass v. Johnson last month, which found laws restricting sleeping in public areas did not violate the constitutional restriction against “cruel and unusual punishment.”

MASSIVE CALIFORNIA RESIDENTIAL TOWER TO OFFER HOMELESS PRIVATE ROOMS, GYM, CAFE AND MORE AMENITIES

“The state has been hard at work to address this crisis on our streets,” Newsom said. “There are simply no more excuses. It’s time for everyone to do their part.”

The order is expected to affect tens of thousands of homeless Californians who have set up long-term encampments and occupied entire city blocks with open-air drug use.

“Big promises. No action. Blame locals. No press. Rinse and repeat,” GOP Assembly Leader James Gallagher wrote in response to Newsom’s order in a post on X. 

CALIFORNIA GOP LEADERS CALL FOR ACCOUNTABILITY AFTER STATE CAN’T ACCOUNT FOR $24B SPENT ON HOMELESS CRISIS

A homeless encampment is seen on a sidewalk on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles on May 9. (Toby Canham for Fox News Digital)

In April, California GOP leaders called for more accountability after an audit indicated the state spent around $24 billion to tackle the homeless crisis over the past five years but did not consistently track whether the huge outlay of public money did anything to actually improve the problem. 

A state auditor’s report found that despite roughly $24 billion spent on homeless and housing programs during the 2018-2023 fiscal years, the problem didn’t improve in many cities.

According to a report from the Public Policy Institute of California, the 2023 Point-in-time (PIT) count released in December estimated that more than 180,000 people were homeless in California, up 6% from the previous count.

Fox News Digital’s Timothy Nerozzi and Bradford Betz contributed to this report. 

Jennifer Aniston has entered the 2024 election news cycle to call out former President Trump’s running mate — “Hillbilly Elegy” author and Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance — over his remarks about people who haven’t borne children.

The Emmy-winning “Friends” star on Wednesday shared her disbelief over a resurfaced clip of the GOP nominee for vice president, who in 2021 likened Democrats like Vice President Kamala Harris to “childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made.” Vance said, “They want to make the rest of the country miserable too.”

Posting a tweet about the clip on her Instagram Story, the actor wrote: “I truly can’t believe this is coming from a potential VP of The United States.”

“The Morning Show” star, who opened up about her infertility struggles in 2022, then directed her comments to Vance himself while alluding to the Republican Party’s support of personhood laws that would affect access to abortion, in vitro fertilization procedures and certain types of contraception.

“All I can say is… Mr. Vance, I pray that your daughter is fortunate enough to bear children of her own one day,” she wrote. “I hope she will not need to turn to IVF as a second option. Because you are trying to take that away from her, too.”

A representative for Aniston had no further comment when reached by The Times.

The senator from Ohio, 39, was a candidate for the U.S. Congress when he made the remarks in 2021 on former Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s show, but the clip has made the rounds on social media recently in the wake of Trump tapping his onetime critic as his VP pick at the Republican National Convention last week.

“It’s just a basic fact — you look at Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, AOC — the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children. And how does it make any sense that we’ve turned our country over to people who don’t really have a direct stake in it?” Vance told Carlson.

After taking aim at Vance, Aniston, 55, appeared to endorse Harris, who stepped into the race Sunday after President Biden heeded widespread calls to drop out of the election. She reposted a 2018 video from fellow actor Allison Janney showing the former prosecutor and senator grilling Justice Brett Kavanaugh, then a Supreme Court nominee, on abortion rights.

In a 2022 interview, Aniston provided rare insight into her attempts at parenthood and how the media scrutinized her about not having children during her high-profile marriages to Brad Pitt and Justin Theroux.

“I was trying to get pregnant. It was a challenging road for me, the baby-making road,” she told Allure. “All the years and years and years of speculation. … It was really hard. I was going through IVF, drinking Chinese teas, you name it. I was throwing everything at it. I would’ve given anything if someone had said to me, ‘Freeze your eggs. Do yourself a favor.’ You just don’t think it. So here I am today. The ship has sailed.”

Aniston said that the media painfully branded her as “selfish” and someone who “just cared about her career.”

“God forbid a woman is successful and doesn’t have a child,” she said. “And the reason my husband left me, why we broke up and ended our marriage, was because I wouldn’t give him a kid. It was absolute lies.”

Meanwhile, Harris’ stepdaughter Ella Emhoff and Ella’s mother, Kerstin Emhoff, came to Harris’ defense.

Ella Emhoff posted a statement her mother had given to CNN on her Instagram Story on Thursday. In it, Kerstin Emhoff called the “childless” claims against Harris “baseless” and praised Harris as a “co-parent” to her two children with Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff.

“She is loving, nurturing, fiercely protective, and always present,” the statement said.

Ella Emhoff added: “How can you be ‘childless’ when you have cutie pie kids like cole and I. @kemhoff say it louder for the people in the back… I love my three parents.”