Without mentioning him by name, President Obama on Thursday night took friendly jab at his close friend, Rahm Emanuel.
"By the way, have you seen my chief of staff?" Obama asked during a fund raiser Thursday night, eliciting laughter from the roughly 400 people who had paid big bucks to be in the Gold Coast room.
Less than a week ago, Emanuel stepped down as the president's right-hand man in order to "prepare" for an as-yet-unofficial run for mayor of Chicago.
Several high-profile Democrats were on-hand at a fundraiser primarily held for Treasurer Alexi Giannoulis.
Obama pointed many of them out prior to his remarks at Chicago's Drake Hotel: Sen. Dick Durbin, Sen. Roland Burris, Rep. Danny Davis, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Comptroller Dan Hynes, Illinois Senate President John Cullerton, state Sen. James Meeks and Sheila Simon, who is running as Gov. Pat Quinn's running mate.
But no mention of Emanuel.
"I was like looking around, I was like, 'What happened?" Obama said referring to Emanuel's swift departure.
Emanuel took the day off.
