A report that former President Obama’s former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel was eyeing a 2028 presidential bid was met with brutal backlash online.

A new report by Politico titled ‘Rahm Emanuel Is Gearing Up to Run for President’ detailed how the 65-year-old former Chicago mayor has been everywhere since returning from serving as U.S. ambassador to Japan.

‘Rahm Wants to Run. Yes, that Rahm. And, yes, for that office — the presidency,’ wrote Politico’s senior political columnist Jonathan Martin. 

The first contest of the 2028 Democratic presidential primary is likely almost three years away. 

But the idea of the former Obama official and congressman throwing his name in the ring for the Democratic presidential nomination was not met with open arms online as Democrats are still licking their wounds from the brutal 2024 presidential election.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Japan and Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel speaking at the Economic Club of Chicago on March 3. A new report from Politico says that he is eyeing a bid for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination

‘No,’ wrote podcaster Jane Coaston in a post on X responding to the report.

‘Rahm Emanuel is running in 2028. If he’s the candidate I’m leaving the party. I’m not interested in a boring club membership,’ wrote researcher Matt Stoller. 

‘Eric Adams, Andrew Cuomo, Rahm Emanuel – they are in the corruption wing of the Dem party,’ posted Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez former chief of staff Saikat Chakrabarti, who is now running to unseat former Speaker Nancy Pelosi. 

‘The lesson from Trump cannot be that Dems could win if only they were more corrupt. To make the case against Trump, we must get rid of the corruption in our party, not give more power,’ Chakrabarti wrote.

‘The generation of leaders that got us into this mess will not be the ones to get us out of it,’ wrote Amanda Litman, president of Run for Something which recruits young progressives to run for office. 

‘What if the path to Democratic Party renewal was always just to bring back the biggest a**holes, like Rahm and Andrew Cuomo?’ wrote pollster Patrick Ruffini.

‘Rahm Emanuel was a NAFTA architect, cheerleader of the Iraq War, proponent of Wall St dereg that created the financial crisis & mayor whose administration covered up the murder of a teenager. Him being a presidential contender is a perfect commentary on today’s Democratic Party,’ wrote David Sirota, a former senior adviser to Bernie Sanders.

Talk about the 2028 presidential race has been well underway ever since the 2024 election with a number of Democrats being floated as potential contenders.

If Emanuel were to jump in the race, he could be part of a crowded field as multiple prominent Democrats including governors and lawmakers could launch campaigns. 

Recent polling shows former Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost to President Trump just over four months ago, leads the current pack of possible candidates as she continues to hold greater name recognition nationally.

Harris has not signaled what her future plans are but there has been speculation that she will run for governor of California next year. 

Harris reportedly has given herself until the end of the summer to decide whether she will run for governor. 

The move could take her out of the running for a 2028 bid. But even if she were to forgo running for president, the field could still be packed.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris speaking in Las Vegas on March 9. She is mulling a bid for California governor

While the report that Emanuel is gearing up for a presidential bid was met with backlash, there are few Democrats who know more about getting things done in the White House.

The 65-year-old served as Obama’s chief of staff from January 2009 until October 2010, helping the administration navigate the great recession and passage of the Affordable Care Act. 

Before that, he served three terms in the House. From the Obama administration he went on serve two terms as mayor of Chicago. 

But his tenure there could come back to haunt him in a Democratic presidential primary after he clashed with the powerful Chicago teachers union that went on strike during his first term.

He also faced harsh criticism for how he handled the killing of black teenager Laquan McDonald by a Chicago police officer in 2014.

Emanuel first said he would but then opted not to run for a third term as mayor in 2019 amid low approval ratings.

Emanuel at the White House while President Obama announced his resignation to run for mayor of Chicago

Obama walking with then-Mayor Emanuel upon arriving in Chicago in 2024

President Biden nominated him to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Japan where he served until just before the start of the Trump administration in January.

Now, he’s back stateside and has been spotted all over the place with a speech before the Economic Club of Chicago, appearances on CNN and writing columns for the Washington Post.

But in discussing his plans with Politico, Emanuel remained coy.  

‘I’ve only been back two months, I have no idea what I’m doing,’ he told Martin.

‘I’m not done with public service and I’m hoping public service is not done with me,’ he said.