Microblogging platform Twitter has added @SecondGentleman to its roster of official political handles as the husband of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris prepares to become the first male second spouse in US history.
President-elect Joe Biden touted the move in a tweet announcing his own takeover of the @POTUS handle on January 20 and advising people to follow his transition team, incoming First Lady Jill Biden, Harris, and Harris' husband Douglas Emhoff.
Twitter maintains a series of government-affiliated accounts attached to public office, rather than the individual – such as @POTUS and @FLOTUS for the president and first lady. Also, for the first time, the US President-elect has been given a new official presidential Twitter account, but has been forced to start it with zero followers.
Emhoff, a lawyer, has not yet tweeted or followed anyone from the @SecondGentleman account at the time of writing but has attracted almost a quarter of a million followers. He has more than 700,000 followers on his personal account, @DouglasEmhoff.
Harris will make US history on inauguration when she becomes the first Black, Indian-American, and female Vice President in the country. Emhoff will also be the first Jewish person married to a US president or vice president.
The @POTUS handle has been in President Donald Trump's name for his term's duration, although he generally preferred to use his personal handle @realDonaldTrump. Twitter permanently suspended that account after the Capitol riots on January 6.