Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., told Newsmax on Thursday that Rahm Emanuel's speech in Tel Aviv, Israel, accusing the Jewish state of becoming a "territorial pariah" reflects Democrats' eroding support for the U.S.-Israel alliance.

Norman said the former Chicago mayor and potential 2028 Democrat presidential candidate is vying with California Gov. Gavin Newsom for what he described as the party's anti-Israel lane.

Norman told "Ed Henry: The Big Take" that Emanuel's turn was less a shift in conviction than a positioning move.

"Rahm Emanuel is a socialist. And the fact he did it in Israel, made those kinds of comments, doesn't surprise me," Norman said.

Emanuel, a Jew and longtime defender of Israel, used a Wednesday address at Tel Aviv University to urge the U.S. to end its unconditional support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

He called for ending U.S. subsidies to Israel's defense budget, sanctioning Israelis who attack Palestinian civilians, and replacing the two-state framework with a 23-state regional approach.

Norman tied Emanuel's move to Newsom, who described Israel in March on "Pod Save America" as being seen by some "appropriately as sort of an apartheid state" and suggested Washington may have to reconsider military aid.

Newsom later said he regretted the term in that context but warned others may use it if Netanyahu pursues full annexation of the West Bank.

"The Democrat Party is already on the bottom. I think they've got a dragnet operation going to try to pull up anybody that they can," Norman said.

"The debacle they had with Joe Biden, with Kamala Harris, they're trying to come up with anybody."

Norman rejected Emanuel's claim that Israel's conduct, rather than Hamas' actions, is driving the isolation he described.

"Imagine this: The only democracy in the Middle East is Israel. Hamas is the one that instigated the terror attack that killed the numbers that they did on Oct. 7," he said.

He portrayed Emanuel's Tel Aviv speech as an early effort to position himself for a 2028 presidential bid. Emanuel, who served as chief of staff to former President Barack Obama, has said he is seriously considering entering the race.

"He's a full-blown socialist, and it's just coming out now. And he's trying to get the front-runner status, I assume, in the presidential sweepstakes," Norman said.

"They've got a poor stable of people to choose from."

About 58% of Democrats say the U.S. is "too supportive" of the Israelis, according to a new survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, up from 45% in January 2024.

Roughly half of Democrats believe that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians during the war in Gaza, a charge Israel vehemently denies.

Netanyahu's office declined to comment to The Associated Press regarding Emanuel's speech.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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