Rahm Emanuel speaks at the Genesis Hub coffee shop in Newberry, South Carolina, on Thursday, April 2, 2026. (Photo by Adrian Ashford/SC Daily Gazette)
NEWBERRY — A White House adviser to past Democratic presidents is visiting South Carolina this week to talk about technical colleges as he weighs his own bid for the Oval Office.
Rahm Emanuel’s stops in Newberry, Abbeville and Allendale are part of his pitch to voters nationwide to redirect billions of dollars from federal immigration detention facilities to community colleges and workforce training programs.
“I want the children at Piedmont Technical (College), when they walk out of there, their head is as high as my daughter who went to Princeton,” the former Chicago mayor told about 35 people packed into Genesis Hub on Thursday evening.
Emanuel was most recently U.S. ambassador to Japan in the Biden administration. Previous titles in his long political resume include chief fundraiser and senior adviser to President Bill Clinton, first chief of staff for President Barak Obama, and three-term congressman representing Chicago.
His meet-and-greet events hosted by the state Democratic Party followed the state GOP’s first gubernatorial debate, held Wednesday night at Newberry Opera House, located across from the coffee shop on the other side of Memorial Park in the quaint city of roughly 11,000 people.
If Democrats retake control of Congress in November, Emanuel said he wants to see a shift of 20% of the roughly $40 billion expected to be spent on Immigrations and Customs Enforcement detention centers toward community colleges and students’ tuition.
“If I decide to run, it’ll be cornerstone,” he said of his potential 2028 presidential run.
“These are the students, the adults working full time, that Washington does not see, that Washington does not hear, and that Washington does not respect,” Emanuel said of students at two-year colleges and trade schools.
As artificial intelligence reshapes the workforce, he said, those schools will offer vital pathways to stable jobs like carpenter, electrician, and plumber, careers at lower risk of being automated away.
It’s a pitch that resonates well in this early presidential primary state, where officials have for years touted the benefits of a debt-free credential for jobs that can start at $50,000-plus. Since its inception in the late 1950s, the state’s technical college system has been a key economic development tool to train workers for local jobs.
The Legislature’s recent investments include $150 million in one-time aid provided to technical colleges last year for building projects, maintenance, and renovations.
Since 2021, the state’s Workforce Industry Needs (WINS) Scholarship of up to $5,000 has helped more than 120,000 South Carolinians earn debt-free credentials from technical colleges for nursing, construction, manufacturing and other high-demand jobs. Initially created with federal COVID aid, the scholarships have been funded since with state taxes and lottery profits.
Last year, the Legislature put $91 million toward the scholarships, which come on top of other aid to fully cover tuition. The House’s first draft of the upcoming budget would increase spending on WINS Scholarships to $95 million in 2026-27, as recommended by Gov. Henry McMaster.
For Emanuel, building on topics increasingly popular on the right — such as focusing more on technical colleges, held up as an alternative to elitist and biased universities — is on brand.
He’s known for staking out a middle-of-the-road lane and eagerly critiquing unpopular positions on the far left of his party.
During a February tour of Michigan, a key swing state, he laid out his idea to fund apprenticeship programs for retiring military service members.
“I don’t lean too left; I don’t lean too right,” he told attendees Thursday, as he made sure to dole out plenty of criticism to fellow Democrats.
“I fault Democrats for walking away from accountability and standards,” he said on education, arguing his colleagues weren’t focused enough on raising students’ reading and math scores.
While his party had abandoned the kitchen table and the family room, “the only room we occupied was the bathroom,” Emanuel said.
His is the latest visit in the state Democratic Party’s “On the Road” series, which state Chair Christale Spain told attendees Thursday is about bringing “national leaders” to every county in the state.
Unofficially, the visits point to which Democrats are eyeing a run for president in 2028, as they test their messaging and reception in a crucial early presidential primary state.
South Carolina’s Democratic presidential primary was moved to the coveted first-in-the-nation spot in 2024.
The Palmetto State is competing against four other states to keep that slot in 2028.
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Courtesy of South Carolina Daily Gazette
