Democratic Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson blamed “right-wing extremism” and his predecessor, Lori Lightfoot, for the city’s migrant problems during a Tuesday press conference.
Johnson proclaimed that “everyone knows” that right-wingers have “targeted Democratically ran [sic] cities that are led by people of color” to “create disruption and chaos” by drawing attention to their issues.
He associated these alleged extremists with the rioters who “stormed the Capitol” on Jan. 6, 2021, and accused them of refusing “to accept the results of the Civil War.”
Johnson also described his conservative critics as manifesting “an unclean spirit” — biblical language associated with demonic possession — and said they were using migrants “as political tools” to vent their rage over the end of slavery. (RELATED: Less Than One-Third Of Blue City Residents Approve Of Mayor: POLL)
“It is abysmal, and it’s an affront for everything that is good about this country for the extremism in this country to use people as political tools to settle political scores for something that happened 400 years ago. They’re still mad that a black man is free in this country,” he said. Slavery was abolished in 1865, 187 years ago.
Chicago mayor blames predecessor, ‘right-wing extremism’ for city woes https://t.co/ZUoyBn4WBn pic.twitter.com/4aZoLwhYTP
— New York Post (@nypost) November 29, 2023
Johnson also indirectly blamed former Democratic Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration for Chicago’s migrant problem in his speech. “Did you know, when I was sworn in in May, the previous city council did not budget for 2023’s migrant mission?” he claimed, according to the New York Post. “So not only have we stood up the full force of government in a collaborative way, we did it without the previous city council even providing resources for it.”
Since August 2022, over 20,000 migrants have streamed into Chicago, straining the city’s social services, the Post noted. According to Chicago crime statistics provided by police, most forms of crime are increasing in the city compared to last year, though murders are down by 12 percent and burglaries by one percent.
Johnson was elected mayor in May 2023.