President Biden’s U.S. ambassador to Japan and a longtime Democrat operative is considering a run for chair of the Democratic National Committee, two sources in the DNC orbit confirm to Fox News.
The sources tell Fox News that Rahm Emanuel has been quietly reaching out to DNC committee members as he contemplates a bid to succeed the current chair, Jaime Harrison, whose term is up early next year. Harrison is unlikely to seek a second four-year posting in the wake of last week’s very disappointing election results for the Democrats, up and down the ballot.
Emanuel, a veteran of President Clinton’s administration, went on to serve in Congress and steered the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee during its very successful 2006 cycle. He later served as former President Obama’s chief of staff before winning the 2011 election and 2015 re-election as Chicago mayor. Emanuel has served these past four years as U.S. ambassador to Japan during the Biden administration.
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U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel speaks to media after meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa at the foreign ministry in Tokyo, on Nov. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool, File)
Emanuel appears to have a major advocate in veteran Democratic strategist David Axelrod (the political mastermind behind Obama’s 2008 White House victory and 2012 re-election win), who is a friend of his.
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“If they said, ‘Well, what should we do? Who should lead the party?’ I would take Ambassador Rahm Emanuel, and I would bring him back from Japan, and I would appoint him chairman of the Democratic National Committee,” Axelrod said on Tuesday during his podcast, “Hacks on Tap.”
On Wednesday, Axelrod wrote on X that “Dems need a strong and strategic party leader, with broad experience in comms; fundraising and winning elections. One thought I surfaced on @HacksonTap: Ambassador @RahmEmanuel. There may be others but he is kind of sui genesis: Dude knows how to fight and win!”
But it’s far from certain, if Emanuel goes ahead with a bid to chair the DNC, that he would be well received by others.
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel speaks during his visit to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ F-35 fighter jet final assembly and inspection plant in Toyoyama, Aichi prefecture, western Japan, on April 16. (U.S. Embassy via AP)
One DNC insider, who asked to remain anonymous, told Fox News Digital, “Rahm is no doubt talented. But we need to know what we need to do to move forward as a party. We need new blood. We need modernization. We need somebody who understands the vastly changed new media landscape, and who is willing to invest in it. Don’t know that Rahm fits the bill for that.”
Another DNC insider, who also asked for anonymity, was much more blunt, arguing in a comment to Fox News Digital that “the absolutely last person we need leading us is an arrogant elitist that has never worked a day in his life.”
The news regarding Emanuel was first reported earlier Friday by Axios.
Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in New Hampshire.
