Look out, Scott Jennings!
CNN said it hired Rahm Emanuel, the former Obama advisor and Chicago mayor, as a senior commentator on political and global affairs. Emanuel most recently served as U.S. Ambassador to Japan.
His hire comes as CNN has tried to lure conservative and center-right viewers by enlisting the aforementioned Jennings, a former Bush advisor whose presence on the network has increased in recent weeks. Jennings appears frequently in Washington political panels and on the primetime show “NewsNight,” and even recently made a foray into CNN’s more traditional news programming. His support for the policies of the Trump administration has brought him directly into on-air conflict with several CNN anchors, who often accuse him of grandstanding.
Emanuel could serve to balance the scales. A former chief of staff in the Obama White House, Emanuel is known for having a blunt demeanor. “You have to be idealistic enough to know why you’re doing what you’re doing, and then ruthless enough to get it done,” Emanuel told a group of graduate students at Stanford University in 2017.
CNN has seen its viewership erode noticeably since the 2024 presidential election, and recently reworked a good portion of its weekday schedule.
Emanuel served as a U.S. Congressman from Illinois for six years, and also worked as an advisor in the Clinton administration.
He holds a bachelor’s degree from Sarah Lawrence College and earned a master’s degree in speech and communication at Northwestern University.
Emanuel is represented by WME, but not by his brother, Ari Emanuel, who is CEO of Endeavor the talent-and-sports conglomerate that is the agency’s corporate parent.
