Former Vice President Kamala Harris “rebuffed” a request from the Vance family to allow their children a tour of the vice president’s residence ahead of the inauguration, according to Vice President JD Vance.
Vance revealed the apparent snub during an appearance on the inaugural episode of the Katie Miller Podcast that aired on Monday. Harris, branded as “Momala” during the presidential campaign, reportedly denied the Vance children an early chance to see the house they would live in for the next four years.
“I think that, normally, it’s customary for the outgoing vice president to show the incoming vice president’s family the house,” Vance said. “We have three little kids, so I guess at the time our kids were, like, 7, 5, and, you know, 2 – I guess Mirabel turned 3 right before the inauguration.”
“Usha really wanted to show [the children where they would be living], so what we actually proposed is, recognizing the weirdness of the politics, can Usha take the kids over and just show them where they’re going to be living for the next 4 years, and they were rebuffed,” Vance said.
Instead, Vance and his wife introduced their children to the vice presidential residence through photos.
“A friend of ours in Cincinnati had a book about the vice president’s residence, and so we would show the kids what it would look like, but that’s as close as they ever got to it” before the inauguration, Vance said.
.@VP says after the election, since it’s usually “customary for the outgoing VP to show the incoming VP’s family the house,” he proposed bringing their kids over so they could see their home for the next four years — but Kamala “rebuffed” that request. pic.twitter.com/YC58At8Iqf
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 11, 2025
Harris snubbed the vice president, as well. Traditionally, the sitting vice president has invited the incoming vice president to the residence ahead of inauguration, though Harris skipped the custom with Vance.
Harris has often brought up her role as “Momala” to her stepchildren, Cole and Ella, gained through her marriage to her husband Doug Emhoff. The nickname was agreed upon one night by Harris and Ella a couple years after Harris and Emhoff were married.
Harris wrote about the experience in a Mother’s Day piece in Elle in 2019. The nickname has been referenced repeatedly in news articles and profiles to tout Harris’ family’s support for her career in politics.
