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Clinton won’t meet Emanuel during Chicago visit

by Jesse Byrnes - 03/14/16 10:10 AM ET

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton won’t meet with Rahm Emanuel during a visit Monday to the embattled mayor’s Chicago, according to a new report.

Clinton rival Bernie Sanders slammed Emanuel over the weekend, critiquing Clinton for her endorsement from a mayor Sanders said has a “disastrous record.”

I want to thank Rahm Emanuel for not endorsing me. I don’t want the endorsement of a mayor shutting down schools and firing teachers.

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) March 12, 2016

{mosads}Clinton and Emanuel, a former Clinton and Obama White House aide, aren’t expected to meet while the former secretary of State is in Chicago on the eve of the Illinois primary, Emanuel’s office told Bloomberg.

A spokesman told the outlet “their respective schedules [won’t] make it possible” to meet, adding, “the mayor’s support for President Clinton and Secretary Clinton is well known.”

Bloomberg noted that while Clinton won’t be meeting with Emanuel, Bill Clinton spent time with him last week while visiting Chicago, and Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman regularly speaks with the mayor.

Illinois is one of five states that will hold voting on Tuesday, and polling released Monday found the Democratic race is a toss-up in that state, along with Missouri and Ohio.

Emanuel has been under scrutiny as the Chicago Police Department faces a federal civil rights investigation following the police-involved shooting of Laquan McDonald, a black 17-year-old.

A number of prominent African-Americans called on Emanuel to resign after an alleged cover-up of the video showing the October 2014 shooting. Clinton has said his future is up to Chicagoans.

“Mayor Emanuel has said that he is committed to complete and total reform, and I think that he should be held to that standard,” Clinton said in on NBC’s “Meet the Press” in January.

Tags African-American voters Bernie Sanders Bill Clinton Chicago Hillary Clinton Illinois Laquan McDonald