Rahm Emanuel is charging forward on the campaign trail for the Chicago mayoral seat and trying to shake off his hot-tempered reputation by putting his best foot forward as a likable candidate.
On Friday, he e-mailed prospective voters plans for a cleaner government, promising to “close the revolving door between city government and lobbying.”
But while Emanuel goes on the trail shaking hands, with his hand sanitizer nearby, White House insiders tell us they are relieved their time with the famously foulmouthed former chief of staff is over — and they’re taking bets on how many days until “Rahmbo” blows up on a constituent.
“You better pull your [bleep]ing tampons out,” was a typical phrase used by President Obama‘s sharp-tongued former top aide to question the masculinity of his male staffers, a source said.
A former aide to Emanuel said his vulgar lines and aggressiveness rubbed many the wrong way. “He’s always been rough with staffers and particularly insensitive around females,” the ex-aide told us.
One of Obama’s closest aides, influential Chicagoan Valerie Jarrett, is said to have disliked working with the dictatorial Emanuel and isn’t eager to endorse him in the Chicago mayoral race.
Ben LaBolt, a former Obama flack Emanuel picked up to run his press shop for the campaign, responded, “This is fiction written by people who don’t work with Rahm, don’t work on the campaign, and don’t know what they’re talking about.”
But the White House no longer sounds like it’s going out of its way to cover for Emanuel’s abrasive style. Deputy Communications Director Jen Psaki told us: “The top levels of most organizations — including government — are filled with strong-willed people who express their opinions with passion and intensity. The White House is no different. The notion that it would impact an endorsement or a working relationship is nonsense.”