Politico‘s politics bureau chief Jonathan Martin reported Wednesday that Rahm Emanuel — former U.S. Ambassador to Japan, U.S. Congressman, and Mayor of Chicago –“wants to run” for the job of President of the United States. Martin wrote that Emanuel “is already on the hustings, finding new ways to attack Trumpism from the center.”
Emboldened with a CNN contract and a regular Washington Post column, Emanuel is also hitting the speaking circuit but “is pointedly avoiding Ivy League campuses and later this month will make his first stop on a service academy tour when he speaks at West Point.”
Column: Rahm Emanuel wants to run. Yes, for the presidency, writes our politics bureau chief @jmart.https://t.co/G6TovGdxvx
— POLITICO (@politico) March 12, 2025
Note: Emanuel, who is also scheduled to speak with cadets at the Naval Academy in Annapolis and the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, said the lectures “are a chance to pass on my experiences and insights from my time in Japan but also, crucially, to recognize the service and commitment of our future military leaders, many of whom will be called upon to protect and preserve American interests in the Indo-Pacific.”
Martin, who was in the audience when Emanuel spoke at a Democracy Forward conference in Washington, quoted him as saying: “I am done with the discussion of locker rooms, I am done with the discussion of bathrooms and we better start having a conversation about the classroom.”
On Real Time with Bill Maher, Emanuel said: “We had the worst reading scores for eighth graders in 30 years. And nobody, not a governor, not a mayor, not a president, not a secretary of education is talking about it.” He added: “Look, in seventh grade, if I had known I could’ve said the word ‘they’ and gotten in the girls’ bathroom, I would’ve done it.”
"I don't want to hear another word about the locker room. I don't want to hear another word about the bathroom. You better start focusing on the classroom."
— Real Time with Bill Maher (@RealTimers) March 7, 2025
Watch @RahmEmanuel get real about mayoral priorities with @BillMaher on #RTOvertime: pic.twitter.com/clkGPdWPNB
After laughter erupted from the audience and from Maher, Emanuel added: “We literally are a superpower, we’re facing off against China with 1.4 billion people and two-thirds of our children can’t read eighth grade level.” The former ambassador then reiterated what he said at the Democracy Forward event, “I don’t want to hear another word about the bathroom, until you tell me what you’re going to do with the classroom.”
Note: Another charismatic Democrat who has wooed Bill Maher and is reportedly eyeing a presidential run is California Gavin Newsom. Maher praised Newsom last week for speaking against trans athletes in women’s sports on his new podcast, This Is Gavin Newsom, with Trump ally, Turning Point conservative Charlie Kirk.
Make sure to tune in TOMORROW for the first episode of my new podcast ➡️ https://t.co/Qfn8BizSI1 https://t.co/q2XUPulWlK
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) March 5, 2025
Maher said of Newsom’s take on trans athletes competing in women’s sports: “I do love this because I do think he’s a great politician. I know ‘He’s slick.’ Yeah, they said the same thing about Clinton. He’s a great politician. He’s really smart. You can talk great, chicks dig them, and I’ve always been saying if he would just tack to the center. Well, it happened this week.”
