Former Chicago mayor, possible presidential hopeful Rahm Emanuel finishes bike tour of New Hampshire
Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel took a three-day bike tour through New Hampshire last week and this weekend.
New Hampshire is a traditional stop for presidential hopefuls.
Between peddling 13 miles between Thursday and Sunday, the potential candidate hosted a series of townhalls, where he said he heard a lot of the same concerns.
He said people told him health care costs, college tuition, and high interest rates are just some of the factors contributing to the squeeze they are feeling.
"You hear the same constant refrain about this kind of sense of the middle-class squeeze, Emanuel said on CNN. "The world you and I grew up under, the world that we hope our old kids grow up under, it's changing dramatically…. Everybody has lost the plot, not just Democrats."
Before the bike tour, Emanuel sat down for an interview last week with Courtney Cole of WBZ-TV, CBS News Boston. He said he took several bike tours before back while serving as ambassador to Japan, including one around Lake Michigan and another along the Oregon coast, and such bike tours are useful ways to connect with people.
Emanuel said he asked everybody to buy a bike for every mile of his New Hampshire tour for a boke program for disadvantaged children in New Hampshire. The former Chicago mayor told WBZ that $22,000 was raised, and 120 bikes would be given away.
Cole asked Emanuel what he would want to change if he were elected president. He said Americans are too divided, and President Trump is focused on vanity projects while other superpowers are jumping ahead and Americans are struggling.
"We have a president of the United States worrying, got the whole political system dealing with redistricting. China's off doing research. He's arguing about his ballroom. They're building ballistic missiles. He's building an arch to himself, and families can't afford a meal at the Golden Arches," Emanuel said. "So to me, we're actually not focused on what we've got to focus on."
Emanuel said there needs to be a focus on the middle class when kids are graduating from college with $30,000 in debt, parents are missing medications to make sure their kids have health care, and people are taking money out of their 401 (k) because their paychecks don't cover their expenses.
Emanuel also touted Chicago as the first city that made community college free, and made kindergarten and pre-K universal.
"A primary thing that I care about — 50% of our kids can't read at grade level, and nobody is dealing with it like it's an emergency," Emanuel told Cole. "We are sleepwalking into the future."
Emanuel is actively exploring a run for president in 2028, but has not announced a campaign.
