Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is predicting that a prominent Democratic Party figure will launch a surprise bid for the party’s presidential nomination in 2028.
In an interview published Friday by The Free Press, Pelosi said she believes Rahm Emanuel—former White House chief of staff under President Barack Obama and former mayor of Chicago—will enter the race. “I think he’s going to run,” she stated.
Emanuel, who most recently served as U.S. Ambassador to Japan during the Biden presidency, has already dropped hints. When asked how he was doing in the same Free Press article, Emanuel quipped, “I don’t have prostate cancer.”
Emanuel’s blunt remark regarding the escalating controversy over President Biden’s cancer diagnosis is being interpreted by some political analysts and lawmakers—including Nancy Pelosi—as a calculated move to position himself as a credible and steady voice at a time when Democratic Party approval ratings hover near historic lows.
“We can’t get distracted by the cultural issues and lose sight of what Americans care about and what impacts them, which is a shot at the American dream,” he said. “We have to be able to stand up to the interest groups. We can’t look weak and woke.”
When asked directly about rumors surrounding a White House bid, Emanuel refused to confirm nor deny. “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,” he said.
After a two-hour lunch meeting with a former ally of Obama, Free Press reporter Peter Savodnik left feeling as if a decision had already been made.“I know what I want to do,” he said. “We’ve got to get ready to fight for America—and that’s what I’m going to do.”