Raging Moderates: The Death of the American Dream (feat. Rahm Emanuel)

Summary

Summary of "Raging Moderates: The Death of the American Dream (feat. Rahm Emanuel)"

Podcast Title: The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Episode: Raging Moderates: The Death of the American Dream (feat. Rahm Emanuel)
Release Date: May 27, 2025
Hosts: Scott Galloway and Jessica Tarlev
Guest: Rahm Emanuel, two-time Mayor of Chicago, former White House Chief of Staff, and former U.S. Ambassador to Japan

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Introduction

In this compelling episode of "Raging Moderates," Scott Galloway and Jessica Tarlev engage in a deep and insightful conversation with Rahm Emanuel. The discussion navigates through several pressing political and social issues, including President Biden's recent health diagnosis, the suitability of age in presidential candidates, the Democratic Party's trust deficit, the implications of Republican tax and spending cuts, education reforms, the challenges facing young men, rising antisemitism, and Rahm Emanuel's potential future in politics.

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President Biden’s Diagnosis and Its Political Implications

The episode begins with the significant news of President Biden being diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer. Jessica Tarlev probes Rahm Emanuel on whether Biden’s personality and his alignment with the Democratic Party contributed to his re-election despite controversies.

Notable Quote:

"He's a good man who did good work, who wanted one thing in life which was to be known as somebody that was significant. And the tragedy here will be that his last act is going to become a defining act and it is going to actually undo the one thing he wanted out of his life."
— Rahm Emanuel [02:39]

Rahm Emanuel reflects on Biden’s character and tenure, emphasizing the insular nature of the White House and the lack of honest feedback, which he believes contributed to Biden’s challenges in office.

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Age Limits for Presidential Candidates

Jessica raises a pertinent question about the cognitive and judgment capabilities of older presidential candidates, especially in light of Biden's age and health concerns.

Notable Quote:

"Every year is a dog year. Okay? You walk into that office and it is a physical, mental, emotional, psychological beating by the hour."
— Rahm Emanuel [05:30]

Emanuel advocates for imposing an upper age limit for presidential candidates, highlighting the immense pressures and tolls of the office that can affect judgment and effectiveness.

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Addressing the Trust Deficit Within the Democratic Party

The conversation shifts to the Democratic Party’s current trust deficit compared to the Republican Party, with Rahm Emanuel offering strategies to rebuild trust and support.

Notable Quote:

"Our challenge definitely Democrats are seen as weak and woke... people clearly disappointed in us."
— Rahm Emanuel [10:26]

Emanuel suggests that Democrats need to refocus on mainstream issues like economic accessibility and affordability of the American Dream, rather than getting sidetracked by cultural debates that have alienated some voters.

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Republican Tax and Spending Cuts: A Democratic Opportunity

Rahm Emanuel discusses the recent Republican tax and spending cuts, which many think tanks have labeled as the largest transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich in history. He outlines a strategic approach for Democrats to counteract this legislative move.

Notable Quote:

"Make it a referendum on the party in power... it's a rubber stamp Republican Congress... Drive like a Mack truck right to that point and don't go off wandering onto other ancillary issues."
— Rahm Emanuel [14:02]

Emanuel emphasizes simplicity and focus, advocating for targeted economic reforms such as raising taxes on the wealthy and restoring healthcare funding to effectively counter the Republican bill.

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Education Reform and Rebuilding Trust

Jessica delves into the Democratic Party’s handling of education, highlighting declining trust and performance metrics. Rahm Emanuel shares his successful reforms during his tenure as Mayor of Chicago.

Notable Quote:

"We rethought and reinvented the high school education... 99.4% compliance by linking high school graduation to college acceptance."
— Rahm Emanuel [21:40]

Emanuel underscores the importance of returning to educational basics, implementing standards to ensure academic achievement, and making community college accessible as pathways for students.

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Challenges Facing Young Men

The discussion turns to the alarming statistics regarding the struggles of young men, including higher rates of suicide, addiction, and incarceration. Rahm Emanuel presents solutions focusing on mentorship and national service.

Notable Quote:

"What you want is a direction and they're craving an adult who cares about them... universal national service for six months."
— Rahm Emanuel [26:41]

Emanuel advocates for investing in mentorship programs and universal national service to provide young men with the guidance and support they need to overcome feelings of aimlessness and self-doubt.

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Rising Antisemitism in the United States

Jessica brings up the tragic incident involving the killing of two Israeli embassy staffers, prompting a discussion on the rising visibility and normalization of antisemitism. Rahm Emanuel addresses the issue head-on, emphasizing the need for national dialogue and action.

Notable Quote:

"Antisemitism has existed... what’s new is it's got a green light... no boundary to where it will lead."
— Rahm Emanuel [37:07]

Emanuel condemns the normalization of anti-Jewish rhetoric and warns of the potential for rhetoric to escalate into violence, stressing the importance of confronting and addressing antisemitism as a nation.

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Rahm Emanuel’s Future in Politics

In the final segment, Jessica inquires about Rahm Emanuel’s potential political ambitions. Rahm Emanuel explains his current focus on policy development, particularly around education and economic accessibility, while leaving the door open for future political endeavors if he feels he can contribute uniquely.

Notable Quote:

"If I think I have something to offer that others don't, I'll take that plunge... I'm going to spend my time articulating that."
— Rahm Emanuel [31:47]

Emanuel expresses a commitment to addressing the core issues he believes are crucial for the Democratic Party’s success and the broader well-being of the American populace.

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Conclusion

The episode wraps up with Rahm Emanuel urging Democrats to return to addressing fundamental economic and social issues that resonate with the American people. He emphasizes the necessity of making the American Dream affordable and accessible, advocating for strategic political actions to reclaim trust and support.

Final Quote:

"The core principle for the Democratic Party, the American dream, is unaffordable. It's inaccessible. And that is totally unacceptable to us."
— Rahm Emanuel [43:15]

Emanuel’s insights provide a roadmap for Democrats to address current challenges by focusing on economic reforms, educational improvements, and rebuilding trust through practical and relatable policies.

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This summary captures the essence of the episode, highlighting Rahm Emanuel's perspectives and proposed solutions to pressing political and social issues, enriched with notable quotes and timestamps for reference.

Transcript

[Scott Galloway]

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[Jessica Tarlev]

Support for the show comes from Virgin Atlantic. Let's talk about flying. I do it, you do it, we all do it. But it really comes down to how we do it. When you fly Virgin Atlantic, they make it a memorable trip.

[Scott Galloway]

Right from the moment you check in on board, you'll find everything you need to relax, recharge or carry on working lie flat private suites, fast wi fi.

[Jessica Tarlev]

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[Scott Galloway]

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[Rahm Emanuel]

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[Jessica Tarlev]

Hey, folks. We took a break from Memorial Day, but before the long weekend, we sat down with Rahm Emanuel for a conversation recorded last Thursday. We got into the issues surrounding Biden, the Republican transfer of wealth to the rich, and what Democrats need to focus on. Here's the episode. Enjoy. Welcome to Raging Moderates. I'm Scott Galloway.

And I'm Jessica Tarlev.

Jess. Joining us today is someone who's worn a lot of hats in American politics, two time mayor of Chicago, former White House chief of staff, and most recently, US Ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel. Rahm, welcome to the show.

[Rahm Emanuel]

Thanks, Scott. Thanks, Jess.

[Jessica Tarlev]

We're gonna jump right into this. The headlines this week have been dominated by the news that President Biden has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer. That comes on the heels of a week already full of questions about his health and a buzzy new book. Quick question. Did Biden's narcissism and entering into consensual hallucination with a lot the Democratic Party that he was the best candidate for a president. Is that a big part of the reason that we reelected an insurrectionist?

[Rahm Emanuel]

Look, I mean, I have a couple answers on this. You know, look, White Houses are insular and the Oval Office is seductive. And while you talked about his medical condition and all this, my take on this is this is Shakespearean. And the reason I say that is I've worked with former President Biden in three different functions. One, I was assigned by President Clinton when I was senior advisor to work with him on passing the Violence Against Women act and the assault weapon ban when he's a senator. And I was a, as I said, senior advisor for the president. Then our offices when I'm chief of staff for President Obama are adjacent to each other. And then as ambassador that he appointed me and I'm 8,000 miles away, we worked through this historic agreement between Japan, Korea and the United States. So I've seen him at different stages from different locations, and I've seen him change. And I what saddens me, and I'm just saying this as a both a friend, genuine friend to him. He's a good man who did good work, who wanted one thing in life which was to be known as somebody that was significant. And the tragedy here will be that his last act is going to become a defining act and it is going to actually undo the one thing he wanted out of his life, which is it's going to, I won't say obliterate, that's a little dramatic, but it's definitely going to color in a very significant way the one thing he wanted. And had he stayed true to his commitment in 2020 and said, I'm going to be a transitional. I do believe this was, you know, this gets back to a question. Could you have won? Could the Democrat have won this race? I've always thought a Democrat could have beaten Donald Trump. Yeah, he didn't get 50 plus percent. And I feel empathy for him because he wanted one thing in life beyond doing good work, you know, some sense to be seen as a significant player, et cetera. And the vanity, the power of the office, the lack of people around him that would tell him the truth. And I add one thing. I mean, President Obama and President Clinton can tell you your job at certain times of the presidency is to tell the president not what they want to know, but what they need to hear.

[Jessica Tarlev]

Right?

[Rahm Emanuel]

And that didn't happen. He or they or both got walled off from that. And White Houses get very, very Insular. And that office is incredibly seductive. So I feel him not holding to his pledge had consequences, one to him and two to all of us. And we're dealing with it today.

[Jessica Tarlev]

We'll just follow up and then just moving to solutions. We've decided that a 34 year old does not have the cognitive ability or the judgment to run for the highest office. Do you think we need age limits on the higher end? Why wouldn't we have age limits, say of 75 to run for office?

[Rahm Emanuel]

Well, it's not only cognitive. You ever see a before and after picture of a president in the White House the day they walk in and the day we walk out? Every year is a dog year. Okay? You walk into that office and it is a physical, mental, emotional, psychological beating by the hour. There should be a cap. You saw it with Ronald Reagan's, I mean, deterioration in his final years.

[Jessica Tarlev]

So you're on board with an age limit at the high end that someone who say above a certain age should not be able to run?

[Rahm Emanuel]

Yes, that's the short answer. I will say one thing. There's an anecdote out of the Oval. You know, obviously I'm President Obama's chief of staff for the first two years and one day, you know, we were going from healthcare to a, you know, 10 minutes financial reform. Then we were going into the oil well that had exploded and it was just, you know, that was only by 10:30. And I told him, I said, look, man, when we get out of here, I want to get a T shirt shack on a beach and I want to sell one color white. So if somebody said blue, I go white and one size medium. Just so I don't have to think, I don't have to make a call. And we used to have this like, we'd be in a meeting and it was like, mind boggling. I look at them, I go white. He'd look at me and go medium. Because we were gonna open up a T shirt shack on a Hawaiian beach and all we were gonna do all day is lean forward and just watch the waves. So you didn't have to think anymore. And the immense pressure, as my grandfather would say, it takes the neshama out of ya.

[Jessica Tarlev]

Yeah, I like knowing that white and medium are your safe words. So now we know that. Before we get to the reconciliation package, I just wanted to add on to what you were saying, Scott, about President Biden and, you know, the extension of what original sin is uncovered. And there are already four books, right, that are coming out about the quote, unquote cover up in the White House is that we have this enormous trust deficit with the American people and they're skeptical of politicians in general. But it has never been so bleak for Democrats in comparison to, to the Republican Party. And I'm curious, as someone with great political instincts and having been successful in many arenas of politics, how you think Democrats can deal with that? Because it feels very much to me and Scott that we are going about business as usual in extraordinary times and that we need an extraordinary solution to the challenges that we're facing.

[Rahm Emanuel]

You know, just I. This wasn't a surprise to the American people.

[Jessica Tarlev]

They told us over and over, he's too old.

[Rahm Emanuel]

Yes. I mean, if you go back and do kind of an autopsy of the presidency, there's the confluence in that first August with both what happens in Afghanistan and the recurrence of COVID and also which I think sometimes gets lost in the analysis. He doesn't try to deal with Afghanistan by doing a Kennedy post Bay of Pigs and say, I own this. This is on me. I made the decision. And his response sets off triggers because he was supposed to be hired to manage better than the chaos of Trump 1.0. And that starts to build the resistance to him. He never then gets back to positive real estate from a polling standpoint and trust. And as inflation picks up and gets deeper and he tries to tell the American people the economy is better than you appreciate. The age issue comes over as a person who's out of touch and it grows to like a 70 mile an hour headwind straight at him. And the American people could not see past that block. And it grew in intensity every day that went by. So it was the most discussed subject. If it was a secret, the American people were in on it, Right? It wasn't a secret. They were in on it and they issued a judgment. Now, there is a trust factor. I think there's a trust factor for politicians. The truth is, there's a trust factor. The farther you get away from people's home, the less trust there is. Local politics versus national politics. There's not, you know, people go, oh, our democracy's at threat, not the local level.

[Jessica Tarlev]

Right.

[Rahm Emanuel]

National level. I think the bigger challenge for Democrats is, and I don't think we own universally the deficit on trust. I think our challenge definitely Democrats are seen as weak and woke. Republicans are seen as going to be in this reconciliation bill as people that stab you in the back and betray you. That's the two vulnerabilities of both parties. And if we do certain things that I've been advocating and I can talk about it on the show. I think we can make up for and address the weak and woke in a very kind of focused way. I think people have clearly because a weak and woke disappointed in us and that has made them appropriately angry at us.

[Jessica Tarlev]

What do we do about that? You know, we've heard it in every kind of denomination. You know, they're crazy but we're preachy, they look down on us. Why are you on the wrong side of a 7030 issue? Fix us Rahm.

[Rahm Emanuel]

Well, here, look, I am sensitive to a child that's trying to figure out what pronoun they want to use. But nobody wants to be sensitive to the fact that the rest of the classroom can't tell you what a pronoun is. And to me this is insane. I've said this before and I'll say it again. We shut the front door of a school for two years during COVID and then we blew open the bathroom door right afterwards. And not only were we off on a tangent of a set of issues, we made them primary to us. Yes, by our DNA as Democrats we are an accepting party. We became a party that advocated. And that's a mistake. Go back to President Clinton. That's a formative experience for me. In 1992, 40% of his advertising is on ending welfare as you know it. He comes on the heels of Jimmy Carter's loss, Walter Mondale's loss, Michael Dukakis loss. He ran openly as a new Democrat. And that new Democrat wasn't just the economy stupid. It was 100,000 community police officers not defunding the police, it was ending welfare as we know it, not continuing kind of a failed system. Even when it was self evident that it was broken, the economics and the cultural aspect were grounded in mainstream. President Obama himself talked openly about it's easy to father a child. It's different to be a dad. And he got criticized for it and he stood up for that. Grounding yourself in the mainstream culturally is really, really important for the whole agenda. Not just tactically, Democrats. And this is a thing that I would say about politics. Sound is not always fury. And you have to, if you're good in politics, know the difference between sound and fury. Just because a Washington group tells you to use the word latinx doesn't mean people use it. And we have to be not cavalier attacking people but we have to ground ourselves in the very conversation that families have about social media, about homeless encampments near their house, things that happen on their block and not look, we're running off in some tangent because some Washington group with a 202 area code on their phone yelling at you. And my other point to illustrate this, in the last State of the Union by President Biden, he said illegal immigrant. The next morning the Washington interest groups attack him and say you have to use undocumented. And rather than say, hey look, they cross the border illegally, they're immigrants. I'm using illegal immigrants. You want to use undocumented, you use it. I'm going to use what I'm going to use. That would have been a sign of strength grounding yourself in the mainstream and the strength to say when somebody who's in the family is offsides, that is essential. More so for Democrats. And we got caught in a cul de sac driving around in a circle in the last three years.

[Jessica Tarlev]

So rom House Republicans just passed a massive tax and spending cuts package. A lot of think tanks have said this is going to be the greatest transfer of wealth from poor to rich in history. Curious to get your thoughts on this bill and these tax cuts.

[Rahm Emanuel]

This is not an advocate for my web traffic on my piece, but I just had a piece go up on the Washington Post on this piece. But I think this is a huge opportunity for Democrats. You don't have either the microphone of the Oval Office or the gavel of the Congressional. Both sides of Pennsylvania Avenue are owned by the Republicans. There is an architecture built in to that midterm. An energized opposition, 2 to 1 independence break from the incumbent party and a depressed incumbent party that is already you can see in the early polling setting up for 2026. You can see Democrats are energized in these special elections. Independents have broke from the Republican Party. Republican Party is just not turning out the way they did when Donald Trump was on the ballot. It's early but the outlines of that architecture exist today. Scott, on this bill make simplicity a virtue. There is a division between the MAGA realizing all of a sudden Medicaid affects the rural hospitals and their constituents and the fiscal if there are such things in the Republican Party, conservatives who like the pain of cutting Medicaid enjoy it. Actually to me you should make the battle cry raise taxes on the wealthy so that we can give health care to the many. Very simple. The Democrats should be offering one simple bill. Raise taxes on people making above 2.5 million. Eliminate carried interest. Put the corporate tax rate back up to 27%. Restore all the health care cuts. Don't try to solve all the problems this is setting up 2026. The one thing we can win is is 2026. That's what this is about. The independent voters, which are going to be key in swing states and swing districts want reform. But most importantly, they want a check on an untethered, unchecked Donald Trump. And you got to associate the Republicans as a rubber stamp Congress. This is not about oligarchy. This is not about fascism. This is not about do nothing Democrats and weakness. Midterms are a referendum on the party in power. Make it a referendum on the party in power. This is a rubber stamp Republican Congress that has decided to reinforce what I refer to as the three Cs Corruption, Chaos and cruelty and repeat it. Washington interest groups see corruption as the Qatar jet, the bitcoin. The public sees corruption as a well heeled, well connected getting a tax cut and we're getting our healthcare cut. That's how they see perceive corruption and we should go right at it. Drive like a Mack truck right to that point and don't go off wandering onto other ancillary issues. The wealthy are walking off with all the money and you're paying for it with your healthcare. It also has the beauty of one thing. It's true.

[Jessica Tarlev]

I like that it's easy and digestible. And we suffer from being too loquacious as a party.

[Rahm Emanuel]

No, we're always meeting with our PhD committee to explain our theory of the case.

[Jessica Tarlev]

Yeah, embarrassed to be a PhD holder myself, but we'll pretend that I'm not for the rest of this podcast.

Okay, let's take a quick break. Stay with us.

[Scott Galloway]

Support for the show comes from the NPR Politics podcast. Keeping up with politics means processing a whirlwind of information on the daily the NPR Politics podcast can help declutter it all for you. Every day, the NPR Politics podcast team focuses on one thing and boils it down to 15 minutes or less. Each episode makes it easy for you to understand what's going on in politics, from the complete restructure of the federal government to immigration policy, tariffs and trade, to unpacking the first hundred days of Trump's presidency. They explore whether the president has lived up to his early promises and how his executive orders and spur of the moment decision making are changing the nation and your life in the long term. You can tune in and hear about what's been done, what's to come, and what might change and of course, what it means for you. I absolutely love npr. I think they do a fantastic job and they try to call balls and strikes. Look, if you're listening to the show, we know you're interested in politics and you can think of the NPR Politics Podcast as your daily political multivitamin with in depth reporting and a nuanced analysis that won't completely overwhelm you. It's excellent reporting in bite sized chunks. You can listen now to the NPR Politics podcast only from NPR. Wherever you get your podcasts.

[Jessica Tarlev]

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[Scott Galloway]

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[Katie Milkman]

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[Jessica Tarlev]

You mentioned education, the classroom and that's why you ran to be the mayor of Chicago. And I've been disturbed by how Democrats have lost their edge in handling all of the most important issues to Americans. I think we're only still up on climate change and abortion and only just barely. Now at this point. And one of the biggest losses, I think is that parents in this country don't trust us to handle their children's education. And I'm curious as to what you think are some good policies that we could stand behind that would reaffirm people's trust in us on that particular issue. And also what we can do about the awesome and not in the necessarily positive way, but just in the huge way, the power of the teachers unions, when you know an average person knows who Randy Weingarten is, that that's a problem for the party, especially considering what.

[Rahm Emanuel]

Went on during COVID So you're right, Jess. Last 30 years, Democrats had anywhere, starting from Jimmy Carter's creating the Department of Education and Reagan trying to or advocating to shut it down. We had anywhere, call it from 20 to 30 point advantage on education. President Obama did Race to the Top, President Clinton did Teachers of Excellence. But we basically kept coming at this focused on the classroom accelerate. There's no doubt during COVID we shut schools down much longer than they need to be, much longer than the science told us to do, even though we kept saying we're going to follow the science. Second, we got in a bunch of ancillary discussions that had nothing to do with reading, writing and math. The name of the school, was it named after George Washington, Thomas Jefferson or any other founding father. Or access to the bathroom and access to locker rooms. We've gotten into bathroom and locker rooms and we avoided the classroom. So you have to go back for political purposes to the place where you build political support. That's one. Now we're at a 30 year low on reading scores and I think near 30 year low on math scores. Alabama in fourth grade is the only state that has made gains on math. Mississippi going back to 2010, but even through Covid and Post has made significant gains on reading. There's a couple common themes to that. One, time on task, they dedicate more time to early intervention. Three where needed, one on one instruction that should become an emergency meeting using the Oval Office, all the governors, et cetera. How do we get over the next 18 months what Alabama and Mississippi's done? What are the best practices and how do we make them universal and start getting back to basics of that? We have an absentee rate in Chicago of double digits. And that's true nationally. We have normalized absenteeism. Parents and kids have self selected four day a week, school week, and we've made it a norm. And I think we should set a national standard. No child will go from fourth to fifth grade. Who has north of seven? I'm using for this discussion 7%, because we're doing social promotion. The data is quite clear. Kids can't learn if they're not in the classroom. So if you're not in the classroom, you're not going to the next grade. End it, no more social promotion. Lastly, and I think this is really important, we haven't rethought the high school since introducing universal high school education. It's been 100 years. I'm not saying we did everything right in Chicago, but we did a couple things I think that do matter in that reinvention. We went from a mindset of a diploma machine. Get you to graduation, get you a diploma to high school was preparation for what's next. So we did three things. First, if you earn a B average, we made community college free. You got free books, free tuition, free transportation. And in a school district with 83% poverty, 20,000 kids have availed themselves of it. Three quarters of them are the first in the family to go to college. We made it free, but you got to have a B average. Two, you could not get your high school diploma without showing a letter of acceptance from a college, community college, a branch of the armed services, or a vocational school. You will not get your high school diploma without that letter. So you have to help parents do that. So we hired a massive amount of college and career counselors and got them into high schools across the city. We help kids starting their freshman year. What do you want to do? How do you want to do it? Okay. And every year you met with that counselor. So you were, did you need more math? Did you need more science? Where were you on this or that? So they were preparing. If they wanted to go Marines, they wanted to go plumbing, or they wanted to go to Harold Washington Community College, to Northern or UIC or wherever they want to play. And we had a 99.4% compliance. We as best we could, rethought and reinvented the high school education. So, you know, my motto always was, you earn what you learn, you get a high school education, you'll earn that. You don't get one, you'll earn that, too.

[Jessica Tarlev]

So, Ram, something we talk a lot about here is along the lines of young people is, you know, my view is that the group that's fallen furthest fastest is the one that gets the least empathy, and that is young men.

[Rahm Emanuel]

Yeah.

[Jessica Tarlev]

4 times more likely to kill themselves, 3 times more likely to be addicted, 12 times more likely to be incarcerated. What is Your view on the plight if a do you see it as an issue? And if so, how do we address it? From a social policy, can you point to any programs that you're in favor of? I know you've been an advocate for national service, but what do you think we do to help lift up our young men?

[Rahm Emanuel]

So there's two things I will get to, but I want to finish one. Thought I was going to say sure, because it deals with at least that one data point you pulled out about incarceration. An oversized amount of the folks in prison are black men between the ages of 18 and 35 without a high school degree. The only thing I can change in that is whether you have a high school degree or not. Can't change gender, can't change race, can't change age. That changes on its own. And so to me, getting kids, one of the things that we drove and I say we, meaning Dr. Janice Jackson and I, she was the chancellor of our schools, is if you said to our kids, what are you going to do in four years? They have a. They could tell you, I have kids. When I was mayor in Chicago, which is true today, four weeks was their horizon. They didn't know if they were going to be alive at 18. You get a child that walks across that stage and gets a diploma, they have a tomorrow. They don't get to that stage. They're not thinking about tomorrow. Their horizon is different. So if you can get them thinking about tomorrow, they're going to change the way they think about themselves. Second, and this was the inspiration for President Obama's My Brother's Keeper. University of Chicago comes to me and they showed me this program had about 80 kids called Becoming a Man. And it's a circle group. You sit in, you do about four hours a day. That's one part. And then they do other things with the children for about four hours a day, five days a week. I was smitten by it. I got Jimmy Butler involved in it, the basketball player. I got other athletes. Anybody that came, including President Obama, I made him participate at Hyde Park High School and that became his inspiration. We blew it up from 100 kids over my 10 year to 7,500 young men, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th grade, four hours a day, five days a week, nine months out of the year. It was their mentor, it was their coach, and it was their role model. And I'm not going to do social science, but there's enough data about staying out of the criminal justice system, graduating high school that it's overwhelming. And again, I'm dealing with the population in Chicago. It doesn't mean it applies across the board, but I think it does. Just with a little mentoring. Their lives were different. You can see this hollowness in their eyes and it's changed when they're involved in something that's rewarding, which I also believe about why I think we should go to universal national service. Look, a kid's life is 20% in the classroom and 80% out. If you want the 20% to succeed, invest in the 80. Now, we blew up after school programs and summer jobs and we triple the enrollment. But giving kids something where they get their own sense of confidence back. And I would say to you, Scott, one of the things that's clear to me, our young men have internalized a self loathing, a self doubt beyond just what teenage years used to. There's something that has happened that they have. Look, everybody has a level of insecurity and grows up with it, but they have internalized this anger that's self directed. Sometimes it is outside and there's, you can just. They're craving a direction and they're craving, in my view, an adult who cares about them. You know, my father used to say as a pediatrician, you know, he's never saw a kid that was spoiled because they were told they were loved too many times. So I do know what the government can do and I know what the government can't do. A government can support parenting, the government can support a child. The government program could give a child certain kind of supports. There's things it can't do. And I think one of the things we have to realize is we're not, I think you've talked, both of you talked about this. We're not in a zero sum game that somehow if you're helping young men, it comes at the expense of young women. But the crisis that is now a flashing red light, not a yellow light, is these young men aimless. And I mean you can hear it in their voice. And if we don't in some way interject ourselves and start doing different things rather than the same thing, we're going to pay a huge price and they're going to pay a huge price. So I looked at this mentoring program. I would look at summer jobs after school and then I would. I'm firm believer that it's got to be across the board, universal national service for six months. Everybody's got to do it. Nobody gets to cut out of it just because you're going to go to college. Or med school, Forget about it.

[Jessica Tarlev]

So you're talking like somebody that has a plan, or at least some plans that we should be thinking about for the future of the party, for the country and all of us. And you've joked that you're in training for 2028, but you don't know if you'll make the Olympics. What does that training look like for you? Are you thinking about running for president? Are you thinking about running for governor if Pritzker takes the plunge himself?

[Rahm Emanuel]

So just here's how I think about it. There's a lot of people rightfully on the other end of the pool whose entire existence is fighting Donald Trump. And there's a lot to fight. And I don't belittle it. If I'm right, this election in 2026 is a referendum. 2028 is a choice, not a referendum. And I'm going to spend my time as I have both writing pieces, et cetera, on education, on national service. I've already done certain things on national security and ideas about how to make the American dream affordable. I don't think it's an accident that the moment the American dream became out of reach and is less affordable is exactly the time in which our politics became unstable. They're connected. And so if I think I have something to offer that others don't, I'll take that plunge. But I am going to spend my time now thinking, writing about what I think are the big issues that we have to address. That gets to the topic of lost men. That gets to the topic of rethinking our educational system. There's nothing partisan about reinventing high school. You know, I happen to be for free community college. President Obama took our program advocating nationally, but that's not the only road to the same destination. And if I think I got something that other people aren't talking about and a way to talk about it, then I'll dive into the deep end. But I'm going to spend my time articulating that, thinking about that, talking to people. And if I don't think anybody else is going to do that, or I think if I'm present in that campaign, I can drive that, I'll dive in the pool. If I don't, I won't. That's how I'll think about it.

[Jessica Tarlev]

Great.

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[Jessica Tarlev]

Welcome back. So just some recent news here. Two Israeli embassy staffers were killed in a shooting outside the Capitol Jewish Museum in dc. Obviously tragic and heartbreaking. What are your thoughts on this sort of light sleeper which is anti Semitism? What appears to be an increase in antisemitism in the U.S. well, you know.

[Rahm Emanuel]

So two things got the shooter. I mean, the Chicago Police Department has it. He's been at our house a number of times for protests starting in 2017. So I have a slight connection. So with that second is I have a slight twist on what you said. You said an increase. Anti Semitism has always existed.

[Jessica Tarlev]

More visible then.

[Rahm Emanuel]

Yes. And the question is, why is it more visible? Why these people? Why now? Straight up, why? And to me, we're going to have to have a hard conversation. There has been a permission slip for what used to be behind closed doors said about Jews or said in a kind of Snyder, Mark, etc. To where it's said now publicly, where anti Semitism or anti Semitic expressions are said openly. Yes, October 7th ushered in one level. But antisemitism has existed. And what's new is it's got a green light. And that green light, not only to expressing it, bubbles over into violence, not just stays rhetorical. And I said this last week and I'm going to say it again, I said it at the 92nd Street Y. When you have people in 2017 marching around saying Jews will not replace us, blood and soil. And the next day doesn't call for Lincoln's malice towards none. We say there's good people on both sides. We got a problem. And I want to be very clear. I'm not saying that this is on President Trump, but we have a permission slip for what was once repressed or said in hushed tones is now fully said. And there's no boundary to where it will lead. You know, look, my life, adult public life, when I was working for President Clinton because of certain things said about Ra M Israel Emanuel, we had a dog that would smell the car before we were allowed to turn it on. When we were in Japan, somebody spray painted the fence in front of our house with neo Nazi signs, et cetera. And to this day, I don't know who. A neighbor went and painted over it. I got elected Rahm Israel Emanuel in a congressional district that used to have represented by Dan Rosinkowski, Frank Onunzio, Roman Pachinki, Rob Bogojevich, Flanagan Quigley. You know what doesn't fit there? Ram Israel Magna. But I had people in a district vote for a Jewish kid. I was elected a mayor of a city of Chicago whose Jewish population is 3%, a working class city. So I have seen the best of folks and I know firsthand the worst of folks. I think antisemitism today is at a heightened level and for a host of reasons not singular. There's a green light to expressing it that didn't exist in years past.

[Jessica Tarlev]

I just quickly want to say, you mentioned, you know, I'm not putting this on President Trump, but there are a lot. No, no, I get that. But there are a lot of people who would argue that it's actually our party that has allowed the green light to anti Semitism war. And he was chanting Free Palestine. He was part of a leftist organization and college protests. No, I know it was personal for you.

[Rahm Emanuel]

No, I. Look, I don't. Anti Semitism doesn't have a political party or political identification or an ideological. And if you do that, then you're actually not dealing with anti Semitism. You're getting sidetracked into a political discussion that's actually extremely unhelpful. I have seen, as I said by the anecdote I gave In Virginia in 2017, that wasn't the left quote, unquote. And I don't find trying to figure out which party is responsible. I really not only think it's a sidetrack argument, it actually blinds us from dealing with some core issues, and we're gonna have to deal with it as a country and ask some really hard questions. And I think the notion that somehow Democrats bear more of it is not just unhelpful, is actually trying to wash your hands of coming to Crux, because anti Semitism doesn't have a party or ideological point of origin.

[Jessica Tarlev]

I. I personally don't disagree with you, and I've. I've just been disappointed, I guess, in how life has been handled since October 7th. But that's.

[Rahm Emanuel]

Look, I. It's a fair point, except for I want to say, you know, this country, I. I not only represented. I mean, I don't want to go through my titles, but I'm the son of an Israeli immigrant and the grandson of an immigrant from Moldova who came here fleeing the pogroms. This country has been incredible to the Jewish community. It's based on the rule of law, self determination, and a series of freedoms. When those get degraded, that is not good. I got 2,000 years of Jewish history where it's not good. It doesn't have a philosophical or ideological point. And the reason you stand up for these values or these principles is because it has allowed us as a community to flourish and contribute in a way that we just haven't anywhere else. And I'm not disappointed in my party. I would say there are people in both parties that want to confront and fight antisemitism.

[Jessica Tarlev]

Rahm, I see you As I don't know you well, but I've been following your work more closely recently. I think you're a brilliant messenger, a great strategist.

[Rahm Emanuel]

Will you call my mom?

[Jessica Tarlev]

Well, she's clearly done an impressive, a pretty impressive job. I think you're like the case family. It's like, who's more successful than the other in terms of kids anyways, who's more neurotic? Your mom's clearly done. She should definitely write a book on parenting. So what about again, repeat what you think. The one kind of puncturing message should be from the Democratic side right now.

[Rahm Emanuel]

Between now and 2026. Rubber stamp Republicans. That's winnable. And if you get the House back, it's going to be essential to giving us a chance in 2028. In 2028. And it's not just by election. I think the core principle for the Democratic Party, the American dream, is unaffordable. It's inaccessible. And that is totally unacceptable to us. The idea that you have people in our country with 3, 4, 5, 6 homes and a young family can't get a starter home is crazy. It's the core crux of the American dream. I grew up, my dad was a pediatrician. My mother was a radiologist. If you asked a second opinion, it was another health care professional. Today it's an insurance bureaucrat sitting on the other line telling you, you can't get that procedure or we're not going to cover it. And to me, the American dream, and this gets back to why I think how people think corrupt. I don't know you. Just. I don't really know you, Scott. You guys kind of know me through. Our kids are going to be fine. We have given every other person's child the shaft. The system has screwed them. And we have allowed both parties over the years as long as our kids were okay. And it kind of didn't really hit a crisis. It's fine. It's not fine. And the core premise, if you want to strengthen democracy, make the American dream more affordable and more accessible, and if it's got a restriction sign around it, you're going to get a lot of people pissed off. And I don't know if we can solve it overnight. And I don't think we can. I think it's going to take a long time because it's going a long time to get here. But you can't have a situation where people are using their 401k, which is supposed to be for their retirement, to make up for their paycheck. Not covering their costs health care. They spend more time arguing with your bureaucrat than they do talking to the doctor. And we have young couples sitting at their parents home down in the basement and can't find a home. And unless we fix that, the rest of it is going to come apart. And second, on a very crass political level, if we put that at the core a it will shunt out this week in woke and will look like we're fighting exactly the people for the people and against exact interests that have been giving people the shaft for years. So to me that's the core thing. That's where I'm actually spending my time. And I think it's going to take us a long time. And the reason we disappointed people and they got disappointed in the Democrats not only for these tangential issues, but we lost connection with what they expect from us. We were always the defender what comes under inclusive economy that more and more people would have a shot at just the basics. Own a home safe for your retirement, save for your kids education, afford your health care and take a three week vacation. And none of that is affordable unless you're well off and you shouldn't be comfortable if you're well off that the rest of the country isn't comfortable. So that's my core thing of what the party needs to do. And we get all caught up in, you know, not only tangential issues but overthinking. You look and you just, you know, as I used to do when I was a mayor and I was doing this when I used to do Congress on your corner, you go to down Target, you walk down the aisles, you go to Walmart, I used to call them Target town halls or Walmart walk ins and people that would stop to, you know, other people say oh hi Mr. Mayor or whatever, but people would stop and talk to you. This is not complicated. Solving it is. But understanding people want somebody there that will get there in the morning, roll up their sleeves and the one thing they're going to focus on like a laser is making sure they have a shot. And what survived Bill Clinton and Barack Obama through every presidency has ups and downs is that at the core the public knew who they were working for and who they were working against and we've abandoned it. And guess what? They got us read right. We're dead to rights, man. We got caught off on bathrooms and Latinx and making people. You couldn't use that language. You're doing that cultural approach and people couldn't figure out how to get a down payment on the home. They had to pick which Kyle goes to college and which one doesn't and postpones it. They were taking money that they knew in their gut was supposed to be for retirement, but they couldn't make the bills. They were taking another 401k and paying penalties. We've put people in untenable positions just to do the basics, just to, you know, if I had a medical problem, like obviously when my dad was, I could call my dad or whatever. People spend hours arguing with an insurance executive. Half a doctor's time in the nurse's time is talking to some jerk on a telephone about a procedure. That's fundamental. And I will tell you why. I loved being mayor and when I did these graduations when kids were coming with a Chicago Star scholarship to free the relief in a parent's eye that they didn't have to either take a second job, a second mortgage, or pick between the two kids who goes to college and who doesn't. That because your son or daughter earned a B and they're going free. They earned it, that relief. I used to tell Amy, I said, you got to come to one of these. So she came. I mean, people were. Parents are crying inside. There was an emotional catharsis because they were in this crazy Solomon choice. Second job, second mortgage or second child. This is insane. Insane. So that's what to me is what matters.

[Jessica Tarlev]

Rahm Emanuel is two time mayor of Chicago, former White House Chief of staff, and most recently U.S. ambassador of Japan. Rahm, really appreciate your time and your message and we're glad you're on our side.

[Rahm Emanuel]

Rahm. Thanks, guys.