According to reports, the Biden administration is set to give the plum assignment of U.S. ambassador to Japan to former Obama operative and two-time Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
The source, who spoke anonymously to the Associated Press, claims the administration will announce Emanuel’s appointment sometime this month.
After serving three terms as a Congressman from Chicago, Emanuel was tapped to serve as Barack Obama’s first White House chief of staff, which he retained from 2009 to 2010. After leaving Washington, Emanuel was elected twice to the mayor’s office in the Windy City.
The administration floated Emanuel’s name as a candidate for Secretary of Transportation, but the progressive wing of the Democrat Party objected to the idea, saying Emanuel was unsuitable for such a reward.
In November, for instance, New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez warned Biden not to add Emanuel to his possible administration because of the former Chicago Mayor’s actions over the Laquan McDonald shooting.
Speaking of what was then a forming Biden administration, AOC reportedly said Emanuel “should not play a role in the party’s future.”
In a November 9 tweet, AOC noted why Emanuel was unacceptable to her, adding, “We must govern with integrity and accountability. Laquan McDonald’s life mattered.”
Emanuel has mostly avoided the limelight since Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 election. However, Emanuel did recently attack Republicans during an appearance last weekend on ABC’s “This Week” where he accused the GOP of being “built on both resentment and race.”
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