Rahm Emanuel is traveling to South Carolina after spending the past week in New Hampshire, extending a multi-state tour that has fueled speculation about a potential 2028 presidential campaign.
The former Obama White House chief of staff and former mayor of Chicago is scheduled to appear in Spartanburg on Wednesday evening for a conversation with NBC “Today” co-anchor Craig Melvin at Wofford College. Emanuel also has planned stops at Spartanburg Community College, USC Upstate, and Claflin University during his South Carolina visit.
The South Carolina trip followed a week in New Hampshire where Emanuel met with educators, students, lawmakers, business and community leaders, arguing that Americans want practical solutions on issues such as homeownership, health care, and education because many believe the system is tilted against them even as they remain hopeful about their communities and anxious about the future.
Emanuel confirmed in June 2025 that he was considering a run for president in 2028, telling Crain’s Chicago Business that “of course” it was fair to say he was weighing a bid because he was “looking at the Democratic field” and “what I have to contribute.”
A longtime Obama ally, Emanuel served as White House chief of staff during the opening years of Barack Obama’s presidency after helping engineer Democrats’ 2006 midterm victory. As chief of staff, Emanuel became closely associated with the Obama administration’s push for an ambitious governing agenda and delivered what became one of the defining lines of the era: “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.”
In recent months, Emanuel has criticized President Donald Trump’s immigration policies and accused Immigration and Customs Enforcement of operating as a “lawless mob,” falsely asserted in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece that the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot resulted in killing police officers, acknowledged his own role in Illinois’ heavily gerrymandered political system, and broke with many Democrats by stating that men cannot become women and that boys and girls are physically different.
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