Democrat Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez slammed Biden in a scathing statement on the nomination of Rahm Emanuel for Ambassadorship in Japan; the congresswoman called the proposal “deeply shameful.”
Ocasio-Cortez called out Biden administration for nominating Emanuel, who allegedly assisted in covering up a murder
On Wednesday, the New York Democrat representative called out the president; Ocasio-Cortez forcefully came out against Rahm Emanuel’s nomination (a former mayor of Chicago) to be the next U.S. Ambassador to Japan.
Statement on the nomination of Rahm Emanuel as ambassador to Japan ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/5CW861pd7k
— Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@RepAOC) September 1, 2021
The Biden administration made the announcement of Emanuel’s nomination for the ambassadorship role in August. AOC stated that Emanuel’s nomination was “deeply shameful.”
She then noted that the former Chicago mayor assisted in covering up the killing of Laquan McDonald, a teenager shot 16 times in the back by Jason Van Dyke, a police officer in Chicago. Ocasio-Cortez said for this reason alone, Emanuel should be disqualified from any position involving public trust, especially representing the U.S. as an ambassador.
Eventually, the second-degree murder conviction was settled with the family of McDonald for $5 million dollars.
AOC to the Biden admin on Rahm: "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."https://t.co/fRSviSGnLT
— Jake Lahut (@JakeLahut) September 1, 2021
According to accounts of other police officers, at the time of the shooting, McDonald posed as a real threat. However, police video footage later proved otherwise.
The police footage was kept hidden. It was hidden until a judge ordered the former Chicago mayor to release it. This order came over a year after the shooting and after finding that the city of Chicago infringed records law for not producing the footage earlier.
Critics of Emanuel maintained that there was foul play, even after the judge found Van Dyke’s colleagues not guilty
Emanuel then denied hiding the video footage. Three of Van Dyke’s co-workers (former detective David March, former officer Joseph Walsh, and officer Thomas Gaffney) were afterward pronounced not guilty.
The not guilty verdicts arrived on charges for official misconduct, obstruction of justice and conspiracy in January 2019. Regardless of the judgment, critics of Emanuel maintained that foul play happened.
AOC continued, adding that the Biden administration sought to reward the former Chicago mayor with an ambassadorship. She then noted that the nomination is an embarrassment and a disloyalty to the values the United States seeks to uphold within the country and all over the world.
Before serving as a Chicago mayor in 2011, Emanuel worked for former President Obama as a White House chief of staff. Then in 2015, Emanuel was linked to the alleged cover-up of the shooting of the teenager.
This happened precisely after the video footage showed that the the first story of the police officers was, in fact, not true. In the video footage, the teenager was already walking away when Van Dyke shot him multiple times; he then continued to do so, even after the teenager fell down.
