It appears that the Former Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, husband of former Vice President Kamala Harris, was not very interested in shaking hands with the man who awkwardly rejected his wife’s handshake earlier in the month. If you recall, during the swearing-in ceremony of Senator Den Fischer, Harris’s husband Bruce Fischer drew criticism for refusing to accept a handshake from Kamala Harris.
The awkward interaction saw Harris extend her hand to the Senator’s husband, who simply looked down and replied, “Thank you,” instead of properly acknowledging and accepting Harris’s friendly gesture. While Bruce Fischer was holding a cane in one hand and a bible in the other, it’s fair to say that he could’ve at least tried a little harder to reciprocate Harris’s greeting, who’s embarrassment could be seen in her wide-eyed, teeth-clenched grin. While this sparked some drama at the time, it seems that Harris’s husband Doug Emhoff has not forgotten about the controversial incident.
Shortly before Donald Trump was sworn in as President on Monday, both Harris and Emhoff attended a ceremonial pre-inauguration tea, which also saw the Fishers serve as Trump’s inauguration co-chair. Sources close to CNN report that Emhoff spoke directly to Bruce Fisher, saying: “Why would you try to shake my hand when you wouldnโt shake my wifeโs hand?” Neither the Vice President or the Senator were reportedly involved in the interaction.
Interestingly, the source went on to say that Bruce Fischer did approach Emhoff later on to apologise during the ceremonial event, and after things had cooled off, both had seemingly let bygones be bygones as they did have a jovial conversation together about golf before heading to the motorcade to take them to the US Capitol.
Whether Doug Emhoff and Bruce Fischer have truly buried the hatchet is still unclear, but it seems that the bad blood between them has at least subsided somewhat for the time being.
