If Kamala Harris becomes the first woman to be elected president in America, her husband Doug Emhoff will break a glass ceiling of his own. He’ll be the first-ever first gentleman, as opposed to the many first ladies who’ve served the country for more than 200 years.

But Emhoff’s new title comes with strings attached, as one concerned TikToker pointed out in a viral video.

“If she becomes president, he will be the first gentleman of the United States,” TikToker @cassiroll explained in the video. “Right now, the first lady of the United States is FLOTUS, right? They call her FLOTUS, just like how they call the president POTUS or whatever. Okay, so, are they gonna call him FGOTUS? First gentleman of the United States?”

@cassiroll

I’m asking the REAL election questions!! (Also, y’all, I’m a democrat) Second Lady/Gentleman of the US is a title reserved for the spouse of the VP. First Lady/Gentleman of the US is a title reserved for the spouse of the President.

♬ original sound – Cassiroll

The term FGOTUS raises eyebrows, and for good reason. Try saying it out loud — the assumed pronunciation comes very close to a word the White House no doubt wants to avoid at all costs.

That TikTok’s comments section had a few ideas of how to get around the problem.

“He should be ‘the first Doug,’” one commenter suggested. “And then all husbands of presidents moving forward will also be first dougs and that’ll just be a thing we do forever.” Talk about a legacy.

Another proposed changing the language to be neutral, no matter the genders of the president and their spouse. They suggested FSOTUS (for first spouse) and FPOTUS (for first partner), which while still unwieldy to pronounce are much easier to keep PC.

Others suggested keeping the FGOTUS acronym, but pronouncing it with the full F: “eff-gotus,” as opposed to “fuh-gotus.” That would certainly be less likely to set off censors.
Regardless of what his title — or its abbreviation — ends up being, Emhoff would be a welcome addition to the White House, particularly after proving he can get down with the gays by being so into a WeHo SoulCycle class that he missed Joe Biden dropping out of the presidential race. Maybe a FGOTUS (all pronunciations included) is exactly what the country needs.

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