2026年8月16日 / 美国东部时间上午9:38 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
在芝加哥一个阳光明媚的午后，在他协助扩建的滨河步道上，前市长拉姆·伊曼纽尔正兴致勃勃地谈起他执掌了八年的这座城市。“沿着这一英里长的滨河步道，你能看到来自这座城市各个区域的人，而且你猜怎么着，还有来自全国各个地方以及世界各个角落的人。”
那么，芝加哥的哪些特质让我们得以了解伊曼纽尔呢？“哦，那是它的坚韧、它的硬朗，它不拖泥带水，”他说道。“我很强硬——当我认定某件事是对的，你就会看到这件事被办成。”
前芝加哥市长拉姆·伊曼纽尔与记者罗伯特·科斯塔在滨河步道上。哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
这种硬朗作风也体现在采访中，伊曼纽尔以敢于反驳著称——无论是对记者，还是对左翼群体，包括民主社会主义者伯尼·桑德斯参议员。
今年以来，桑德斯及其盟友在一场又一场初选中表现亮眼——进步派人士认为他们正在排挤像伊曼纽尔及其民主党内部盟友这样的温和派人士。7月26日在《面向全国》节目中，桑德斯表示：“人们早已受够了拉姆·伊曼纽尔之流、民主党建制派以及共和党建制派。”
本周，伊曼纽尔在《华尔街日报》发表了一篇题为《如何树敌失友》的专栏文章，其中他写道，“‘伯尼兄弟’可能会破坏中期选举的局势”。
“那么，我想对你说的是……我的目标是将红色选区翻转为蓝色选区；我不会想着把蓝色选区变成更深的蓝色，”伊曼纽尔说道。“你想提高最低工资吗？在民主党占优的选区发力并不是达成这一目标的途径。”
很多被进步派候选人吸引的选民认为，民主党建制派成员以及长期担任民主党领袖的人并不理解他们所承受的经济困境。当被问及他会如何展现出应对这些选民对经济不满的热情与决心时，伊曼纽尔笑道：“你难道不觉得我在做的事情里投入了十足的热情吗？”
而伊曼纽尔在遏制左翼势力这件事上充满热情。
当被问及他会对一名寻求帮助以争取温和派选民的民主党社会主义者说些什么时，伊曼纽尔回应道：“首先，这是个假设性问题。而且我得跟你说实话——这样的求助电话根本没来过。所有人都知道我的号码！所以，我不认为这种情况会发生。听着，双方存在根本性分歧，而我对此泰然自若。”
前芝加哥市长拉姆·伊曼纽尔。哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
而当谈及进步派将民主党作为行动载体时，伊曼纽尔表示：“我认为他们不该这么做，因为我觉得他们本就是一个独立的政党；这是其一。其二，我不支持给警察削减经费，也不支持开放边境。”
在漫长的职业生涯中——担任过市长、国会议员、大使，还曾为两位总统担任高级助手，包括奥巴马政府的白宫办公厅主任——伊曼纽尔一直是医疗保健和经济议题摊牌中关键的（且好斗的）温和派代表。如今，他希望民主党少一些对抗资本主义的论调，多关注降低生活成本等议题，以及聚焦唐纳德·特朗普总统。
关于如果民主党掌控国会后弹劾特朗普一事，伊曼纽尔指责总统及其政府存在肮脏的商业交易和腐败行为，称其“比卡斯特罗还恶劣”。“他的腐败程度连芝加哥的市议员都会脸红，”他笑道。“他们简直是不择手段地捞钱。美国总统的个人资产增加了40亿美元，而美国民众却损失了4万亿美元。我认为这是对他宪法职责的践踏，更不用说他所做的那些事了。他想要一座豪华宴会厅，你就得为此买单。他想要价值4.5亿美元的卡塔尔专机，你就得支付每加仑4.5美元的油价。他在建拱门景观，而你的家庭却连在麦当劳吃顿饭都负担不起。所以在我看来，这就是对他的指控依据。”
伊曼纽尔还就困扰民主党的以色列议题提出了自己的路线。上个月在特拉维夫的一次讲话中，他尖锐批评了总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡，并呼吁达成一项兼具“巴勒斯坦尊严”和“以色列安全”的和平协议。“你无法永远对抗一个不再相信你有权动武的世界，”他说道。“你必须找到一条可持续的新道路，通往和平、安全与繁荣。”
身为犹太人的伊曼纽尔参与这场激烈辩论时，对随之而来的反犹主义抬头深感不安。
“你不必赞同以色列政府的政策，但必须对美国国内反犹主义的抬头保持警惕，而且相较于以往一直存在的反犹主义，如今它正以暴力和杀戮的形式显现，”伊曼纽尔说道。“对我们所有人来说，无论我们持何种立场，无论是像一些国会议员那样表达反穆斯林态度，还是营造助长反犹主义的环境，或是在本应谴责反犹主义的时候却保持沉默，最终都会让反犹主义演变为暴力。”
- 拉姆·伊曼纽尔就美以关系未来发表看法（《面向全国》节目）
对伊曼纽尔而言，这一刻让他想起了在俄罗斯大屠杀和大屠杀中遇难的亲属。他说道：“我们家的客厅里有一面墙。墙的正中央是我祖母的小钱包，装在相框里。相框上方还有祖母、艾达姨妈和吉蒂姨妈的护照。正是这些东西让他们在1914年来到了这个国家。
“墙的两侧是父母双方的亲属的照片，那些没能来到美国的人。这每天都在提醒我们：‘你们是少数的幸运儿。你们不能对此掉以轻心。你们有责任让其他人的生活变得更好。’
“我的信仰对我来说很重要，”他说道。“它是我道德上的指引原则。我认为更大的挑战不是我的信仰。再说一遍，如果这对你来说是个问题，那你需要自己解决，而不是我。我们需要正视的信仰危机是，美国人已经对美国失去了信心。这是我们共同的使命。如果你是美国人，这就是我们必须携手努力去解决的问题。”
参与总统竞选或许是他的下一个计划；今年初夏，他在新罕布什尔州进行了一场低调的自行车旅行。“没错，这挺好的。你可以和人们面对面交流，”他说道。
拉姆·伊曼纽尔在新罕布什尔州一家餐厅与顾客打招呼。哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
现年66岁的拉姆·伊曼纽尔表示，他当下乃至未来的斗争，都比他个人和他所在的政党更为宏大。
但当被问及是否有机会在《周日早晨》节目中宣布参选总统时，他笑着说：“我们可以就在《周日早晨》这里宣布，但这事儿不会发生，好吗？
“我现在处于人生的这个阶段，我会全力以赴，”伊曼纽尔说道。“我认为这是一个伟大的国家。我是移民的儿子和孙子。我觉得成为美国人就像中了人生的彩票。我看着这个我了解、我热爱的国家，它所拥有的热情已经消磨殆尽，基本上已经举白旗投降了。而我绝不会坐视不管。考虑到这是一个伟大的国家，考虑到我所拥有的一切，当然，我也可以挂靴退役？但那不是我的行事风格。”
本报道由加布里埃尔·福尔克制作。编辑：史蒂文·泰勒。
Rahm Emanuel on Trump, the left, and what’s right for America
August 16, 2026 / 9:38 AM EDT / CBS News
On a sunny afternoon in Chicago, along the Riverwalk he helped expand, former Mayor Rahm Emanuel was beaming about the city he led for eight years. “All along this Riverwalk, one mile, you have people from all parts of this city, and guess what, all parts of the country and all parts of the world.”
So, what is it about Chicago that informs us about Emanuel? “Oh, well, its grit, its toughness, it’s no-nonsense,” he said. “I am tough – when I believe something’s right, you’re gonna get it done.”
Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel with correspondent Robert Costa on the Riverwalk. CBS News
That toughness extends to interviews, where Emanuel is known for pushing back – on reporters, and on the left, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Democratic Socialist.
This year, Sanders and his allies have been factors in primary after primary – and progressives feel they have been pushing aside centrists like Emanuel and his allies inside the Democratic Party. On “Face the Nation” July 26, Sanders said, “People are sick and tired of the Rahm Emanuels and the Democratic establishment and the Republican establishment.”
This week, Emanuel penned a Wall Street Journal op-ed (titled “How to Lose Friends and Alienate Allies”), in which he wrote that “‘Bernie bros’ could spoil the midterms.”
“Well, here’s what I would say to you … I’m about flipping red districts to blue; I’m not about taking blue districts and making them midnight blue,” Emanuel said. “You want to see a raise in the minimum wage? Winning over Democratic districts is not the way to get it there.”
A lot of voters drawn to progressive candidates feel that members of the Democratic establishment, and long-time Democratic leaders, don’t get the economic pain they are in. Asked how he would show the passion and commitment to address these voters’ grievances with the economy, Emanuel laughed, “You don’t think I bring any passion to what I do?”
And Emanuel is passionate about keeping the left at bay.
Asked what he would say to a Democrat Socialist who called him for help winning over centrist voters, Emanuel replied, “First of all, it’s a hypothetical. And let me break the news to you – the calls haven’t come in. And everybody knows the number! So, I don’t see that happening. Look, there’s fundamental differences. And I’m comfortable with that.”
Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. CBS News
And when it comes to progressives using the Democratic Party as a vehicle, Emanuel said, “I don’t think they should, because I think they’re a separate party; that’s one. Two, I don’t believe in defunding police. I don’t believe in open borders.”
Over a long career — as mayor, congressman, ambassador, and top aide for two presidents, including chief of staff in the Obama White House — Emanuel has been a key (and combative) moderate in showdowns over health care and the economy. These days, he wants Democrats to focus less on taking on capitalism, and more on matters like lowering costs — and on President Donald Trump.
On the matter of impeaching Mr. Trump should Democrats take control of Congress, Emanuel has accused the president and his administration of dirty business deals and corruption, which he said was “worse that Castro.” “He’d make an alderman in Chicago blush for the kind of corruption he’s doing,” he laughed. “They’re just out there taking money left and right. The president of the United States is $4 billion richer, and you’re $4 trillion poorer. And I think that this is a travesty of his Constitutional responsibilities, let alone the responsibilities of what he’s done. He wants a ballroom, you’re gonna get the bill. He wants his $450 million Qatari plane, you get $4.50 a gallon. He’s building an arch, and your family can’t afford a meal at the Golden Arches. So that, to me, is the indictment to make.”
Emanuel is also offering Democrats his own path on an issue roiling them: Israel. Speaking in Tel Aviv last month, he was sharply critical of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and called for a peace deal that features “Palestinian dignity” and “Israeli security.” “You cannot fight indefinitely against a world that has stopped believing you have a right to fight,” he said. “You must instead find a new sustainable path to peace, security and prosperity.”
As Emanuel, who is Jewish, engages in this fierce debate, he is deeply troubled by the antisemitism that has emerged alongside it.
“You don’t have to agree with the Israeli government to be concerned with the rise of antisemitism in America, and more than the antisemitism which always existed, the way it’s being manifested with violence and killing,” Emanuel said. “And for all of us, regardless of our positions, whether it’s expressions of anti-Muslim attitudes, as some members of Congress have done, or whether it’s encouraging or creating an environment that’s conducive to antisemitism, or not calling out antisemitism when you should call it out so that in fact it doesn’t become violent.”
- Rahm Emanuel weighs in on the future of the U.S.-Israel relationship (“Face the Nation”)
For Emanuel, this moment rouses memories of relatives who perished in Russian pogroms and the Holocaust. He said, “In our family room there was a wall. In the center of the wall was my grandmother’s little pushka, the little purse, framed. And above it in the frame was Grandma, and Auntie Ida, and Auntie Gitti’s passports. That’s what brought them to this country in 1914.
“And on either side of that was a picture of relatives of Mom and Dad, who never made it to America. And it was my parents’ reminder to us daily that, ‘You are the fortunate few. You’re not to be frivolous with this. And you have a responsibility to make other people’s lives better.’
“My faith is important to me,” he said. “It’s a moral guiding principle for me. And I think the bigger challenge isn’t my faith. Again, if it’s a problem for you, you need to work on that, not me. The faith we need to work on is the fact that Americans have lost faith in America. That’s our joint mission. If you’re an American, that’s what we have to work on together.”
Working through a presidential campaign might be next; earlier this summer, he was in New Hampshire on a bike tour that was decidedly low-key. “Yeah, that’s okay. You meet people where they are,” he said.
Rahm Emanuel greets customers in a New Hampshire restaurant. CBS News
At 66, Rahm Emanuel says his fight — now and in the future — is bigger than him, and his party.
But offered a chance to announce his presidential campaign on “Sunday Morning,” he laughed: “We could do it right here on ‘Sunday Morning,’ but it ain’t gonna happen, okay?
“I’m at a point in my life where I’m gonna leave it all on the field,” Emanuel said. “I think this is a great country. I am the son and the grandson of an immigrant. I think being an American is winning the lottery ticket of life. And I look at a country that I know, that I love, and the passion, that has lost its nerve, has basically raised the white flag. And I’m not about that. And so, given that this is a great country, given everything that I have, sure, could I hang up the jersey? That’s not what I’m about.”
Story produced by Gabriel Falcon. Editor: Steven Tyler.