#470 — Democrats at a Crossroads
4/13/202622 min
Sam Harris speaks with Rahm Emanuel about American politics, the state of the Democratic Party, and the 2028 presidential race. They discuss Emanuel's possible presidential run, identity politics and the left's cultural cul-de-sac, the Mississippi reading miracle, antisemitism on the left and right, the Gaza war, Netanyahu's failures, U.S. policy toward China, wealth inequality, and other topics.
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First 90 secondsSam Harris0:00
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Sam Harris· Host0:22
I'm here with Rahm Emanuel. Rahm, thanks for coming back on the podcast.
Rahm Emanuel· Guest0:27
Thanks for having me.
Sam Harris· Host0:28
I didn't have to travel as far this time. [laughs] And there, there's no jet lag, or maybe you've got some jet lag.
Rahm Emanuel· Guest0:33
I, I adjusted.
Sam Harris· Host0:34
Yeah.
Rahm Emanuel· Guest0:34
If I fall- We, we- Just kick me underneath if I start to doze.
Sam Harris· Host0:37
[laughs] Yeah, we were, we were just talking, uh, off mic about, uh, you wrapping up life in Japan and, um, my expectation that, uh, things are gonna get pretty interesting there, uh, from a foreign policy perspective pretty soon. What's your s- we're gonna ju- we're gonna jump into all of it, uh- All right ... the war in Iran and everything else, but what, what's your sense of that?
Rahm Emanuel· Guest0:52
Well, in about six weeks from now, the president's gonna sit down with Xi, president of Japan-- China. The second is he's gonna go in in a weakened position, which is what... Everybody knows that, because of Iran and a series of things.
Sam Harris· Host1:05
Mm.
Rahm Emanuel· Guest1:05
If you just take kind of a... Let's just take a landscape. You've irritated a thirty-year project for the United States, which is bringing India closer to our bosom, both by what you've done with Pakistan- Mm ... what you did, uh, degrading Modi. Second, you removed our THAAD and, uh, vari- our aircraft carrier from both, THAAD from South Korea, and our aircraft carrier out of Okinawa, and other assets