Al Sharpton called on Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to step down Monday, part of a growing rift between Emanuel and liberal Democrats that could begin to put pressure on Hillary Clinton.
The Chicago mayor has some under fire due to his handling police violence towards African Americans in the city, namely the shooting of black teenager Laquan Martin.
A close aide to former President Bill Clinton, Emanuel was one of the first prominent Democratic elected officials to endorse the current Democratic front-runner. But since then much of the Democratic Party has turned against the mayor. Only 18 percent of Chicagoans approve of his performance in office, according to a recent poll.
Clinton last publicly spoke of the Chicago mayor earlier this month, when she stated that “He loves Chicago and I’m confident that he’s going to do everything he can to get to the bottom of these issues and take whatever measures are necessary to remedy them.”
The former secretary of state has met with others of victims of police shootings and repeatedly promotes increased gun control on the campaign trail. But her ties to Emanuel, who served in the Clinton and Obama administrations before becoming mayor of Chicago, could begin to raise questions among fellow Democrats.
“While disappointing, Secretary Clinton’s continued support of Mayor Emanuel is not surprising,” said Jeff Bechdel of the conservative political action committee America Rising. “Even with mounting evidence of a cover-up and growing cries for his resignation, Secretary Clinton is putting the interests of her family’s longtime political ally ahead of the right thing to do.”
