Rahm Emanuel and Zohran Mamdani’s Jokes Highlight the Democrats’ Internal Struggles

They say that there must be at least a little nugget of truth inside every joke — usually a revealing truth. Indeed, better jokes tend to highlight an unspoken, even taboo, feature of our shared circumstances. In the past several days, we’ve been privy to two attempts at humor from Democratic aspirants for high office that illustrate this phenomenon. To the extent they entertained their respective audiences, it’s because they were not really jokes.

The first enlightening witticism of the week was provided by Rahm Emanuel, the former representative and Chicago mayor, who is testing the political waters ahead of a potential 2028 presidential bid. Emanuel’s media tour recently landed him in Megyn Kelly’s studios. There, the host asked her guest simply, “Can a man become a woman?” “No,” Barack Obama’s onetime White House chief of staff replied simply. Later, when Emanuel was asked if a biological male should be allowed to compete in women’s sports, Kelly received another staccato negative. Zero hedging, no flowery rhetorical turns of phrases meant to preserve the fragile egos of every possible viewer — just “no.” Should federal and state officials put “men claiming they’re women” in female correctional institutions? Once again, a simple “no” sufficed.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.

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They say that there must be at least a little nugget of truth inside every joke — usually a revealing truth. Indeed, better jokes tend to highlight an unspoken, even taboo, feature of our shared circumstances. In the past several days, we’ve been privy to two attempts at humor from Democratic aspirants for high office that illustrate this phenomenon. To the extent they entertained their respective audiences, it’s because they were not really jokes.

The first enlightening witticism of the week was provided by Rahm Emanuel, the former representative and Chicago mayor, who is testing the political waters ahead of a potential 2028 presidential bid. Emanuel’s media tour recently landed him in Megyn Kelly’s studios. There, the host asked her guest simply, “Can a man become a woman?” “No,” Barack Obama’s onetime White House chief of staff replied simply. Later, when Emanuel was asked if a biological male should be allowed to compete in women’s sports, Kelly received another staccato negative. Zero hedging, no flowery rhetorical turns of phrases meant to preserve the fragile egos of every possible viewer — just “no.” Should federal and state officials put “men claiming they’re women” in female correctional institutions? Once again, a simple “no” sufficed.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.