Former Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel is weighing a presidential campaign with a focus on public safety, an issue he is slated to address at an event hosted by the University of Chicago Crime Lab’s Policing Leadership Academy on Wednesday.
Emanuel, who previously served as White House chief of staff under former President Barack Obama, told Politico in an interview ahead of the appearance that Americans often feel they face only a “binary choice” between a push to “defund the police” and President Donald Trump’s deployment of the National Guard in Democrat-led cities.
“Democrats, first should not be scared of the issue and second should be proactive about what their agenda is,” Emanuel said.
In an earlier interview, Emanuel said he was considering a White House bid, and on Wednesday he reiterated he is still weighing the decision, adding that he has no “hard timeline” for making an announcement.
During his remarks Wednesday, Emanuel plans to outline his approach to public safety, stressing enhanced community-policing training and youth programs alongside “tough action against hardened criminals and gang members.”
“More cops on the beat, and getting kids, guns and gangs off the street,” he said.
Emanuel has repeatedly taken aim at Democrats for advocating defunding the police, saying the party must become “comfortable” addressing crime head-on.
He also criticized Trump’s use of the National Guard, though he noted there was a “thread of positive” in that their presence could free up local law enforcement to focus their attention on other matters.
“It’s a horrible idea to parachute in 100 to 200 people for a short duration of time who have no sense of a community or no sense of what policing is,” Emanuel said.
“All the money you’re spending on the National Guard could be used to train 500 [local] officers,” he added.
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