Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel had a fiery response when asked Thursday night whether he would consider running for president in 2020.
The former White House chief of staff to President Obama and senior adviser to President Bill Clinton flipped off consultant Neil Hare — twice — after being posed the question at BLT Steak, prompting laughter from others at the bar.
Emanuel, famed for his coarse language and caustic retorts, was hanging out at the restaurant located blocks from the White House during a swing through Washington this week.
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But the mayor isn’t shy when it comes to how he feels about being asked about potential presidential ambitions.
“She’s a reporter,” someone at BLT said after the Chicago mayor gave Hare the bird, referring to your ITK writer.
“I don’t give a f— who she is,” Emanuel shot back.
Earlier in the day, Emanuel — also a former congressman and chairman of the House Democratic Caucus — attended the portrait unveiling for outgoing Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).
While in Washington, he has plans to meet with Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx to lobby for more federal assistance for Chicago, the mayor’s office told the Chicago Sun-Times, and he’ll also be stopping by the White House Office of Management and Budget.
His calendar also includes speaking at a Brookings Institution forum Friday about the role of cities on the front lines of economic and policy battles.
Emanuel recently visited New York, where he said he had a “frank, honest, open and direct” conversation with President-elect Donald Trump about a range of issues.
He urged the president-elect not to go through with his pledge to reverse an Obama-era executive action that protects young people brought to the country illegally as children from deportation.