--- ---  # Why Clinton Veteran Rahm Emanuel Is Warning Democrats Against Running on Impeaching President Trump  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Apr 24, 2018 2:35 PM UTC  Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel speaks at a press conference where he addressed issues related to the city's murder rate and the city's Sanctuary City policy in Chicago on Jan. 25, 2017. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel speaks at a press conference where he addressed issues related to the city's murder rate and the city's Sanctuary City policy in Chicago on Jan. 25, 2017.Scott Olson—Getty Images  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Apr 24, 2018 2:35 PM UTC Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has a warning for Democratic candidates in the upcoming midterm elections: don’t run on the idea of impeaching President Donald Trump. “This is a serious legal and constitutional, not political, issue,” Emanuel a veteran of the Clinton administration, t[old Axios Executive Editor Mike Allen](https://www.axios.com/rahm-emanuel-democrats-impeachment-donald-trump-16548093-835a-45d7-abdb-17b5e8edab01.html) on Monday. “It’s a constitutional standard and, when that standard has been met, we’ll know about it.” Bill Clinton was the last president impeached by Congress. In December 1998, Clinton was impeached in a near-party-line vote of the U.S. House for perjury and obstruction of justice. He was then acquitted by another near-party-line vote after a trial in the U.S. Senate. Some major Democratic players, including mega-donor Tom Steyer, have made impeaching the President a crusade and a focal point of their agenda. Democrats in the House of Representatives have introduced articles of impeachment on the floor [last year,](https://www.cnn.com/2017/11/15/politics/cohen-articles-of-impeachment/index.html) although they have acknowledged their efforts are unlikely to produce anything fruitful. But House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has said Democrats should steer clear of promoting this concept. “Republicans would love for us to make our campaigns about the impeachment of Trump,” [she said](http://time.com/5029752/nancy-pelosi-impeach-trump/) in November at Hearst’s offices. “That’s not what it’s about. It’s about the well-being of American families.” Rahm Emanuel Doesn't Want Democrats to Run on Impeachment ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5252228/rahm-emanuel-impeach-donald-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5252228/rahm-emanuel-impeach-donald-trump/"},"headline":"Why Clinton Veteran Rahm Emanuel Is Warning Democrats Against Running on Impeaching President Trump","datePublished":"2018-04-24T14:35:46.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T20:04:05.722Z","description":"\"When that standard has been met, we'll know about it\"","url":"https://time.com/5252228/rahm-emanuel-impeach-donald-trump/","keywords":["2018 midterms","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt72b818243507e83f/6988ba388fd2eea145355c92/rahm-emanuel.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alana Abramson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt72b818243507e83f/6988ba388fd2eea145355c92/rahm-emanuel.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel Speaks To The Press After City Council Meeting","caption":"CHICAGO, IL - JANUARY 25: Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel speaks at a press conference where he addressed issues related to the city's murder rate and the city's Sanctuary City policy on January 25, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. President Donald Trump has threat","creditText":"Scott Olson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2018-midterms/","name":"2018 midterms"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5252228/rahm-emanuel-impeach-donald-trump/","name":"Why Clinton Veteran Rahm Emanuel Is Warning Democrats Against Running on Impeaching President Trump"}}]}] ```