The hosts of “Fox & Friends” got into a heated debate Wednesday morning with former Chicago mayor and rumored 2028 Democratic presidential candidate Rahm Emanuel over the rise of antisemitism across America, which saw Emanuel tell the Fox hosts, “My faith is not your problem.”
“Fox & Friends” hosts Brian Kilmeade, Ainsley Earhardt and Lawrence Jones sat down Wednesday with Emanuel, who called the overwhelming Democratic victories in this year’s midterm elections a direct “repudiation of President Trump, Project 2025 and Republicans.” Kilmeade, for his part, followed that up by attempting to raise his concerns about “anti-Israeli sentiment” and antisemitism within the Democratic Party.
“You are Jewish,” Kilmeade said to Emanuel. “You went into Israel and gave a major speech. I’m really concerned as an American about the antisemitism, as well as the anti-Israeli sentiment in your party and portions of the Republican Party. Are you as concerned about the future of Israel?”
“My faith is not your problem,” Emanuel responded, noting that Israel’s “strategic isolation is unsustainable.” The former Chicago mayor continued, reiterating, “My faith is not your problem. The fact that Americans across the country have lost faith in America and lost faith in themselves — that’s our problem. That’s what we should work on as a country.”
“When I ran for Congress, I had to show my birth certificate,” Emanuel said. When Kilmeade attempted again to bring up anti-Israeli sentiment on college campuses as a national issue, Emanuel shot back, “I know something about antisemitism that you don’t know.”
The former Chicago mayor went on to detail the numerous instances of antisemitism he has had to deal with throughout his political career.
“In the modern day Democratic Party, can you honestly say you have a shot in running for president as a Jewish man?” @LawrenceBJones3 presses former Chicago Mayor @RahmEmanuel on whether rising antisemitism and party politics block a Jewish candidate from claiming the White House: "The people of this country have goodness and grace in their heart and they will judge me on my character. And if I pass that test, great. And I believe that that will happen in this country… The anti-Semitism… it’s not a party. It’s a problem in America and people of all faiths will confront it."
— FOX & Friends (@foxandfriends) November 4, 2026
“It’s not a party. It’s a problem in America and people of all faiths,” Emanuel argued, to which Kilmeade contended, “It’s not equal. It’s mostly on the Democratic side and that guy in Michigan.”
“You’re making a political point, which is off limits when it comes to confronting antisemitism,” Emanuel said. “It’s coming across America. It’s not a party problem. When you do that, you’re absolving other people from confronting that.”
In response to Emanuel’s accusation, Jones said “no one is doing that,” prompting Emanuel to respond, “You just did it three times! I’m not deaf. I just sat here. You are wrong about that.” The former U.S. ambassador to Japan then shut the conversation down altogether, telling the “Fox & Friends” hosts, “With all due respect, I’m not taking a lecture from any of you on antisemitism.”
Emanuel went on to reinforce his point about rising antisemitism not being a solely Democratic Party issue by referencing President Trump’s dinner at Mar-a-Lago in 2022 with the “openly antisemite” Nick Fuentes and Kanye West. Jones, however, cut Emanuel off by telling him they had to go to a commercial break.
Earlier in the morning, Jones gave a monologue reflecting on the Republicans’ many losses Tuesday night and urged the party to engage in some self-interrogation about the disconnect between its candidates’ messaging and American voters.
“The voters have been pretty clear of how they’re feeling,” Jones observed. “The people are furious about the gas prices and the economy right now. They’re not feeling it. And they also don’t feel like the Republicans — even in my home state of Texas, who’ve run the state for 30 years — are representing them. And I think they’re trying to send a message that they want the politics to shift a little bit.”
“I think there’s gonna be a lot of things that Republicans are gonna have to look into the mirror and say, ‘We gotta fix this!’” Jones concluded.
