Rahm Emanuel Seems to Be Testing 2028 Run

He's being "coy" for now, but Rahm Emanuel sure looks and sounds like he'll be running for president in 2028, reports the Wall Street Journal. "I'm tired of sitting in the back seat when somebody's gunning it at 90 miles an hour for a cliff," the former congressman, Chicago mayor, and ambassador to Japan tells the newspaper in an interview. Emanuel, who has a high-function event in Iowa scheduled for September, also calls the current iteration of his party "weak and woke" and its brand "toxic."

• "If you want the country to give you the keys to the car, somebody's got to be articulating an agenda that's fighting for America, not just fighting Trump," he says. "The American dream has become unaffordable. It's inaccessible. And that has to be unacceptable to us."

Emanuel also spoke with the Free Press and addressed the rumors:

• "Before I make a decision, I want to know that I have an answer to what I think ails our country, ails our politics, and ails the party—and they may all be the same answer."
• Pelosi: The latter outlet asked Nancy Pelosi, who has worked with him for decades, if he will run in 2028, and she responded, "I think so."
• The Journal interview notes a wild card: Emanuel might instead run for governor of Illinois should his friend JB Pritzker, another 2028 contender, choose not to seek reelection in 2026.

(More Rahm Emanuel stories.)