AOC torches Rahm Emanuel's ambassador nomination as 'shameful' and 'a betrayal'
Kena Betancur, Lorenzo Bevilaqua/Getty Images
- Rahm Emanuel is once again taking heat from the left flank of the Democratic Party.
- President Biden recently nominated Emanuel to be the US ambassador to Japan.
- AOC called the former Chicago mayor and White House chief of staff's nomination "shameful."
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In a scathing statement on Wednesday, Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York put the Biden administration on notice over the nomination of Rahm Emanuel for the US ambassadorship in Japan.
"This nomination is deeply shameful," AOC said in the statement. "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. This alone should be flatly disqualifying for any position of public trust, let alone representing the United States as an ambassador."
-Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@RepAOC) September 1, 2021
Emanuel served as former President Barack Obama's first White House chief of staff before becoming mayor of Chicago in 2011.
In 2015, Emanuel was implicated in an alleged cover-up of the police shooting of McDonald after video revealed that the police department's initial story was untrue. McDonald was walking away when he was shot by a Chicago police officer, who fired a barrage of 16 shots that continued even after he collapsed. That officer was convicted of murdering him and is serving a nearly seven-year sentence.
A hard charging political operative with a lengthy list of enemies, Emanuel's star has significantly diminished since leaving his top job in the Obama administration.
AOC blasted the Biden administration for picking him for the Japan position, calling it "an embarrassment."
"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," she said. "I urge the Senate to vote NO on his confirmation."