I’m not sure why powerful Democrats keep trying to make disgraced and complicit former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel happen, yet here we are.
For some reason—possibly because he’s got tapes of Biden doing the Macarena at a wedding reception in which he promised to never leak the footage—Weekend at Biden’s has decided to nominate Emanuel for a U.S. ambassador to Japan. These are usually cozy positions reserved for friends and top donors of the current administration.
But really, Rahm Emanuel?
Thankfully, superhero and one-fourth of The Squad, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is in Congress to remind the Senate that it needs to reject the fuck out of Emanuel after he helped “cover up” the police murder of Laquan McDonald.
“This nomination is deeply shameful,” the New York Democratic congresswoman said in a statement on Wednesday, the Independent reports. “As mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel helped cover up the murder of Laquan McDonald—a mere teenager when he was shot 16 times in the back by a Chicago Police Officer.”
From the Independent:
Under Emanuel’s mayoral administration, the city withheld video footage of the 2014 police killing of McDonald, who was fatally shot 16 times by Chicago Police Department Officer Jason Van Dyke as McDonald walked away from police.
Dashboard-mounted video footage of the murder wasn’t released until 13 months later. Initial police reports and internal reporting indicated the officer’s shooting was justified, leaving Van Dyke off the hook. Following release of the video, he was charged with first-degree murder, and three other officers involved where charged with conspiracy and obstruction of justice in connection with the cover-up.
Van Dyke was later found guilty of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm.
Emanuel—a former White House chief of staff under Barack Obama—was rightfully condemned by Chicagoans who were pissed that an elected official would withhold footage of a shooting that clearly showed the officers were at fault.
A Justice Department report in 2017 found that the Chicago police force had a history of excessive force and disproportionate attacks against people of color.
“This alone should be flatly disqualifying for any position of public trust, let alone representing the United States as an ambassador,” the congresswoman said. “That the Biden administration seeks to reward Emanuel with an ambassadorship is an embarrassment and betrayal of the values we seek to uphold both within our nation and around the world. I urge the Senate to vote NO on his confirmation.”
What does Emanuel have on Biden that would make the president be even remotely associated with this public albatross? Who knows, but it has to be something or else why not let Emanuel find a job in the private sector as his days in politics are over—or at least they should be.