Liberals have championed Kamala Harris' effeminate husband, Doug Emhoff, as a role model for men amidst a supposed epidemic of "toxic masculinity" - but now, Emhoff is facing accusations of assaulting a woman in his past.

Despite his disarming, "nice guy" persona, Emhoff, 59, allegedly slapped an ex-girlfriend so hard she spun around in a valet line, the Daily Mail reported.

Three friends said Emhoff flew into a rage after the woman started flirting with a valet at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival in southern France.

Emhoff faces assault charge

A male friend of the victim said Emhoff's date had offered money to the valet to get to the front of the line. She put her hand on the valet's shoulder, sending Emhoff into a rage.

Next thing, Emhoff smacked his girlfriend, who slapped him back. Emhoff then "forced" his way into the cab with the woman, who called the male friend in tears.

"My impression is that he had a lot to drink. She was sobbing [on the phone afterwards], but she wasn't slurring her words," the friend said.

A second friend, a female attorney, also heard a contemporaneous account from the alleged victim.

"She said he turned her around by her right shoulder, and she was completely caught off guard. He hauled up and slapped her so hard she spun around. She said she was in utter shock."

A third friend said she heard the story in 2018, when Emhoff's current wife, then-Senator Kamala Harris, was in the media spotlight for amplifying the sexual assault accusations against Brett Kavanaugh.

According to the three friends, Emhoff never apologized for the assault, and instead made a sarcastic tennis analogy.

"He was a tennis fan," said the female attorney. "All he said to her was, 'Don't worry about it, you got one across the court and down the line."

Confessed to affair, pregnancy

The incident led the woman, who was in denial about Emhoff's "ugly side," to look at him differently. 

According to the three friends, Emhoff had previously admitted to his girlfriend that he got his kids' teacher and nanny pregnant - but the girlfriend wanted to believe Emhoff's version of the story. Emhoff had claimed the nanny was lying about a miscarriage to get money out of him.

"The nanny believed that Doug caused the baby to be lost. Maybe it was just lawyers making threats," the male friend said.

Emhoff paid $80,000 to the nanny as part of a non-disclosure agreement, the Daily Mail reported. The outlet initially exposed Emhoff's philandering last month, and he admitted to the affair.

Emhoff's affair led to the breakup of his marriage, and he was still going through the divorce when he dated the woman he allegedly slapped.