Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is urging Democrats to abandon any plans to impeach President Donald Trump if they win control of the House of Representatives next month, arguing that such a move would fail and consume the party's agenda in partisan warfare. Emanuel made the remarks during a Sunday appearance on NBC News' «Meet the Press,» where he was asked directly whether Democrats should pursue impeachment.
«Short answer: No, because it's not going anywhere, and it's going to be a food fight, and it's just going to be we return to the politics of fighting,» Emanuel said. «You're never going to get an impeachment. Then if you do that, you just basically prove all Washington is what the American people think. It's Disneyland on the Potomac.» Instead, Emanuel said Democrats should use their investigative power to deliver a comprehensive ethics package. «Deliver the change. Deliver a comprehensive ethics package that uses the investigations to then deliver change,» he said.
The comments come as Democrats hold a significant advantage over Republicans in the final weeks before the midterm elections. In the House, Democrats are projected to win 215 seats compared to 201 for the GOP, meaning the party needs only three more victories out of 19 possible toss-up races to clinch a majority. Republicans would need to win at least 17 of those races to hold the chamber.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., has declined to say whether he would support impeachment proceedings against Trump, though he appeared to suggest this summer that it would not be a top priority. «We haven't ruled anything in or ruled anything out in terms of accountability. What we have said is that our focus is going to be to make life more affordable for the American people. We have to drive down the high cost of living,» Jeffries told NBC in June when asked about impeachment.
Emanuel, who served two terms as mayor of Chicago and as chief of staff for former President Barack Obama, is one of several prominent Democrats rumored to be eyeing a 2028 presidential run. He has styled himself as a moderate Democrat opposed to infiltration by democratic socialists, but that has not stopped him from expressing support for far-left candidates like Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan.
«You think people wanna support defunding the police? You think they wanna support open borders, open prisons? Run on it. I don't, and that's not the party's position,» Emanuel told Fox News Digital in an interview last week. «Now, we will have healthy debate among progressive and pragmatic wing of the party. That's what a coalition party looks like. But that is it. You had a party convention!»
While speaking at the Texas Tribune Festival, Emanuel praised Democratic Texas Senate nominee James Talarico, calling him «strong» and admiring Talarico for being «comfortable» about discussing his faith. But when asked by Fox News Digital moments later whether he supports El-Sayed's candidacy, Emanuel initially hedged. «Look, I mean, it doesn't matter what I do... it matters what the Michigan voters think,» he said. «And that's what's gonna determine this in this effort. And I support the Democrats winning the Senate.» When pressed on whether he hoped El-Sayed would win the race for Democrats, Emanuel answered: «Yeah.»
Emanuel's remarks add to the internal debate among Democrats about how aggressively to confront Trump if they regain the House. Some in the party have called for investigations and possible impeachment, while others, like Emanuel, argue that voters are more concerned with affordability and ethics reform. The former mayor has laid out a five-point ethics plan and said Democrats should learn from GOP-led states on education.
With the midterms approaching, the party's leadership has sought to keep the focus on economic issues. Jeffries' comments in June signaled that impeachment would not be a central campaign theme, and Emanuel's latest intervention reinforces that position. Democrats need a net gain of three seats to take the majority, and the final stretch of the campaign will test whether their message on costs and ethics can overcome Republican efforts to retain control.