Rahm Emanuel has been a fixture in Democratic Party politics for more than thirty years — serving as a member of Congress, President Obama’s chief of staff, mayor of Chicago and ambassador to Japan.
He is now exploring a campaign for the presidency, an effort that seems designed to challenge some orthodoxies of that same party. He has argued that Democrats have the wrong focus on social issues, education and the economy. Appearing on a podcast with the conservative host Megyn Kelly, he answered a question about transgender people in a way she praised, and then he joked that he would need “witness protection.”
Emanuel joined Steve Inskeep for an extended NPR video interview in Washington, D.C., during which he expanded on his critique of Democrats, hammered the Trump administration and offered advice for the upcoming midterm elections that will decide control of Congress.