Vice President Kamala Harris' dating history sent Twitter reeling when a viral tweet reminded everyone of a specific relationship in her past that was quite unexpected.
"The Fact that Kamala Dated Montel and it seems like no one remembers lol," the tweet read, along with two photos of Kamala and former talk show host Montel Williams. In one photo, the two are with his daughter, Ashley.
Some were skeptical that the photos were fake, but they are indeed the real thing. Kamala and Montel briefly dated in 2001. The photos are from the Eighth Annual Race to Erase Multiple Sclerosis that May. A lot of people were shocked that they had never heard about this before.
Surprisingly, Montel discussed the matter not too long ago. He spoke out on Twitter when the little-known fact first came up in 2019. In doing so, he posed an important question. Would anyone care who Kamala had dated in the past if she were a man?
On Thursday night, a Twitter user took the time to ever so casually remind us that Vice President-elect Kamala Harris used to date retired talk show host Montel Williams.
"The Fact that Kamala Dated Montel and it seems like no one remembers lol," they tweeted. They had no idea how many people would react to that fun fact.
Twitter was completely stunned by this revelation. A lot of people were quick to assume it was fake and the pictures were Photoshopped, but they're very much the real deal. Kamala and Montel briefly dated back in 2001.
A lot of people were stunned at how good-looking of a couple the two were. They also wondered how serious things were between them, considering that Montel's daughter Ashley was accompanying them. In Jet, a retraction had to be published after Kamala was wrongfully identified as the teen's mom.
Although this news came as a surprise to many, it first came up publicly in 2019. At that time, Montel spoke out about it in a tweet.
"@KamalaHarris and I briefly dated about 20 years ago when we were both single. So what?" he tweeted.
"I have great respect for Sen. Harris. I have to wonder if the same stories about her dating history would have been written if she were a male candidate?"
Montel spoke about the subject coming up again in another tweet.
"It's not new and it's not news. I'm focused on something that actually matters – bringing a 29-year-old Marine, @freetrevorreed home. If you want to help, follow @freetrevorreed," he wrote.
It's not the only one of Kamala's relationships to have come to light. She also dated California Assembly Speaker Willie Brown from 1994 to 1995. Some media outlets have tried to make the relationship into a scandal because Willie was still legally married. He and his wife had already been separated for 10 years when he started dating Kamala, however.
Kamala spoke about what it was like dating while coming up in politics in her book, The Truths We Hold: An American Journey.
"As a single, professional woman in my forties, and very much in the public eye, dating wasn't easy," she said.
"I knew that if I brought a man with me to an event, people would immediately start to speculate about our relationship."
"I also knew that single women in politics are viewed differently than single men. We don't get the same latitude when it comes to our social lives," she continued.
"I had no interest in inviting that kind of scrutiny unless I was close to sure I'd found 'the One' — which meant that for years, I kept my personal life compartmentalized from my career."
Kamala found "the One" in husband Doug Emhoff. A friend set the two of them up but made Kamala promise not to Google him.
"Don't overthink it. Just meet him. I already gave him your number. He's going to reach out," she recalled the friend advising her.
After a spectacular first date, the couple committed to getting to know each other over a six-month period. It worked out, and they went on to tie the knot in 2014. Doug has been by her side on every step of her journey since then and has applauded each glass ceiling she's shattered.
