Democrat  Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot loses re-election campaign



Democrat Lori Lightfoot, the first female, black mayor of Chicago, Illinois, lost her re-election campaign on Tuesday.

Lightfoot ran against nine other candidates but failed to win one of two top slots to go on to the runoff election on April 4.

Former Chicago school superintendent Paul Vallas will face off against Cook County commissioner Brandy Johnson in the runoff election. Vallas was endorsed by the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police and is considered a moderate, law-and-order candidate while Johnson ran as a progressive backed by the Chicago Teachers' Union.

Many on the left celebrated Lightfoot as the first openly gay person to serve as Chicago mayor.

"Obviously we didn't win the election today, but I stand here with my head held high," said Lightfoot in defeat.

Recent polls showed that crime, especially carjackings and gun violence, had eroded support for Lightfoot among Chicagoans.

Lightfoot was also known for attacking and insulting members of the press who questioned her and challenged her decisions. In one famous exchange, she berated a reporter for asking her to walk back a tweet issuing a "call to arms" for people to oppose the Supreme Court Dobbs decision on abortion.

"You're gonna let me speak, sir," she screamed. "You're not gonna talk over me; that's not the rules here in this press conference, and if you don't want to abide by those rules, you can take your nonsense some place else, because I am about full up with you!"

Here's more about Lightfoot's re-election failure:

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot concedes in 2023 election www.youtube.com

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WATCH: Amid Chicago smash-and-grab crime surge, Mayor Lori Lightfoot blames stores



On "The Rubin Report," BlazeTV host Dave Rubin talked about Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot finding a surprising new group to blame for the smash-and-grab robberies and organized retail theft: It’s the fault of the stores, of course.

Dave shared a clip of Mayor Lightfoot blaming store owners for Chicago’s crime spike. In a bizarre case of blaming the victim, the mayor said she was "disappointed" with stores for not having security guards and better cameras.

"I'm disappointed that [retailers] are not doing more to take safety and make it a priority. For example, we still have retailers that won't institute plans like having security officers in their stores. Making sure that they've got cameras that are actually operational," Lightfoot says in the clip.

"She's so ridiculous," Dave said reacting to Lightfoot's statement. "So you defund the police. People feel that they can commit crimes more. We know about all these DAs who don't prosecute crimes, so you're allowed to steal a certain amount of stuff. And instead of her looking in the mirror ... and saying 'Oh, maybe I had something to do with this. Maybe my policies — even though I think I'm a good tolerant progressive and everything I do is good just because I believe it's good — maybe my policies are increasing crime.' Right? Like, 'I did this, now this happened. Maybe there's a connection.' Instead of doing that, though, she's blaming the business owners for not having more security in their stores "

Watch the video clip below or find more episodes of "The Rubin Report" here:


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Why Doesn't Hillary Clinton Know That Her Utopia Has Been Achieved? | Direct Message | Rubin Report

Why Doesn't Hillary Clinton Know That Her Utopia Has Been Achieved? | Direct Message | Rubin Report

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot defends denying interviews to white reporters



Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) said this week that she's granting one-on-one interviews only to black and brown journalists in order to commemorate the two-year anniversary of her 2019 election.

What are the details?

Lightfoot confirmed the move on Tuesday after several members of the local media on social media accused her of refusing interviews based on reporters' skin color.

In a two-page letter to local media, Lightfoot said that the decision pertained to honoring her two-year anniversary in office.

"By now you may have heard the news that on the occasion of the two-year anniversary of my inauguration as Mayor of this great City, I will be exclusively providing one-on-one interviews with journalists of color," the letter began.

Lightfoot's letter continued, "As a person of color, I have throughout my adult life done everything that I can to fight for diversity and inclusion in every institution that I have been a part of and being Mayor makes me uniquely situated to shine a spotlight on this most important issue."

Lightfoot also said that she was "struck" from her first day on the 2018 campaign trail "by the overwhelming whiteness and maleness of Chicago media outlets, editorial boards, the political press corps, and yes, the City Hall press corps specifically."

https://t.co/duIQbTGccS

— Tahman Bradley (@tahmanbradley) 1621436257.0

She also encouraged media to diversify its staff.

"In looking at the absence of diversity across the City Hall press corps and other newsrooms, sadly it does not appear that many of the media institutions in Chicago have caught on and truly have not embraced this moment," Lightfoot added, complaining that the City Hall press corps is "practically all white."

“Many of them are smart and hard-working, savvy and skilled," she admitted, "but mostly white, nonetheless."

In her letter, Lightfoot also complained that there were no female reporters of color covering city hall.

A Wednesday report from WBEZ-FM, however, pointed out that two of three WBEZ reporters covering city hall are Hispanic and South Asian women respectively.

Later in her letter, Lightfoot added that it also isn't her "job" to police diversity in all of the areas of the city, specifically in the news media.

“[T]he truth is, it is too heavy a burden to bear, on top of all the other massive challenges our city faces in this moment, to also have to take on the labor of educating white, mostly male members of the news media about the perils and complexities of implicit bias," she insisted. “This isn't my job. It shouldn't be. I don't have time for it."

Lightfoot also told WGN-TV reporter Tahman Bradley, "I'm thinking in this one day when we are looking at the two-year anniversary of my inauguration, as a woman of color, as a lesbian, it's important to me that diversity is put front in [sic] center."

What else?

The New York Post reported that a "Lightfoot spokesperson later clarified that the protest only pertains to interviews about her anniversary in office."

Lightfoot's remarks received a bevy of criticism on Wednesday, with many members of the media condemning the stance, which some said was racist.

WMAQ-TV political reporter Mary Ann Ahern reported that Lightfoot's spokesperson said that the mayor is "granting 1 on 1 interviews," but only to "black or brown journalists."

Paris Schutz, "Chicago Tonight" co-anchor and political correspondent for WTTW-TV, chimed in and responded that he was "told the same thing."

George Cardenas, a city alderman, added that the decision "should be corrected."

Later in the day, Latino reporter Gregory Pratt condemned the news on social media, where he wrote, "I am a Latino reporter @chicagotribune whose interview request was granted for today. However, I asked the mayor's office to lift its condition on others and when they said no, we respectfully canceled."

"Politicians don't get to choose who covers them," Pratt added.

On Wednesday, journalist Zaid Jilani accused Lightfoot of using "publicity stunts" such as this to detract from the idea that the Chicago mayor is an inept leader.

Jilani took to Twitter and wrote, "Lori Lightfoot presided over an enormous increase in homicides, almost all of them in African American or Latino communities, and she's hoping these PR stunts get liberal America to give her a pass for failing to save people's lives."

Lori Lightfoot presided over an enormous increase in homicides, almost all of them in African American or Latino co… https://t.co/M1kpRlcipE

— Zaid Jilani (@ZaidJilani) 1621442297.0

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot's 'Census Cowboy' rides horse during protest till its feet bleed and it collapses. Now he's facing a felony charge, and the horse may need to be euthanized.



Authorities arrested 33-year-old activist Adam Hollingsworth — also known as the "Dreadhead Cowboy" or "Census Cowboy" — after a Monday protest in which he rode a horse on a Chicago highway until the bleeding horse collapsed.

The horse, which is in critical condition due to its injuries, may now need to be euthanized.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) tapped Hollingsworth to work with her earlier this year to boost census participation in the city.

What are the details?

According to a report from WTTW-TV, Hollingsworth rode the horse for more than seven miles on the Dan Ryan Expressway during Monday's impromptu protest.

The horse, which was reportedly not outfitted with proper shoes for concrete, collapsed after running for about an hour.

Cook County prosecutors said the horse's treatment was the "equivalent of forcing an 80-year-old woman run a marathon," WTTW reported.

Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Kevin Deboni said that the horse was nearly run to death and suffered "extensive damage" to its health.

Deboni said that the horse's eyes "were dilated to the point they looked like cartoon eyes."

The man appointed by Mayor Lightfoot to be Chicago’s “Census Cowboy” rode his horse until it bled to draw attention… https://t.co/VftSHQtPAO
— Ian Miles Cheong (@Ian Miles Cheong)1601003968.0

All for #KidsLivesMatter

Hollingsworth said that he rode the horse on the Dan Ryan Expressway during rush hour to support the #KidsLivesMatter movement, according to the outlet, which describes the initiative as one "that aims to raise awareness and motivate residents to fill out the census to help communities receive better funding."

According to Block Club Chicago, the movement is in response to children killed by gun violence.

In August, Hollingsworth told the Block Club, "When you get kids occupied and they've got things to do with their time and their life … all this senseless killing that's going on, it'll slow down a whole lot. It's important to support dance groups [or] anything that's got something to do with kids. If it's something positive, support it."

Witnesses of the Dan Ryan Expressway incident told the outlet that they saw Hollingsworth kicking and whipping the horse to keep it running even after it slowed its pace due to exhaustion and injury. Shortly after, the horse collapsed on the ground.

Emergency veterinarians responded to the scene and took the horse in for treatment of severe dehydration, overheating, and lacerations to its front legs that caused heavy bleeding. Authorities took Hollingsworth into custody.

WFLD-TV reported that the horse also had sores beneath its saddle, which was not properly padded.

A felony charge and a rebuke from the mayor

In a statement, Mayor Lightfoot's office condemned Hollingsworth's "stunt."

"There is a right way and a wrong way to call attention to issues of great importance and this stunt was decidedly the very wrong way," the mayor's office said in its statement.

Hollingsworth was charged with a felony count of aggravated cruelty to an animal, as well as misdemeanor counts of reckless conduct, trespassing, and other traffic-related offenses.

At the time of this reporting, the horse remains in critical condition, and will never be able to be ridden again.

The horse may also have to be euthanized due to its injuries and "due to the suffering the animal will likely endure for the rest of its life."

Hollingsworth was held on $25,000 bond during a Wednesday court appearance, and was required to pay 10%. He is due back in court on Sept. 30.

'Lori, come help me, I can't do it alone'

On Thursday, a tearful Hollingsworth told the Chicago Sun-Times that he did not abuse the horse.

"My focus is on the 'Kids Lives Matter' because if you look up the history of when it comes down to kids getting killed, 2020 is the highest rate ... and it ain't right," he told reporters. "Everybody is trying to steer away from that part, and that is very important — that is an important topic we need to stick on."

Hollingsworth insisted that how he treated the horse was "no different than how horses are treated in the circus or at a racetrack," the outlet reported.

"The people that don't know anything about horses looking from the outside in, you would think that what I did was cruelty to animals," he explained. "But if you go to a racetrack, it's 100 times worse, if you go to a circus, worse. ... It's way worse than what I do to my horses. I probably could've did a little bit less, but I had to make a statement."

He also insisted that the description of the horse's injuries were exaggerated, and that he would like to appoint an independent veterinarian to examine the horse.

"I think that is just a way to make the situation seem worse than it is because I am a black brother and I am doing very good for the community and standing up for the Kids Lives Matter movement and not focused on anything else," Hollingsworth reasoned.

He also revealed that he has been the subject of abuse since his arrest.

"Every day I step outside I am taking a chance with my life," he said. "I basically look at [the hate mail] and just close them. I can't change how a person feels."

He also called upon Lightfoot to defend him.

"When [Mayor Lightfoot] called upon me [to assist with the 2020 census], I was there for her," he added. "Monday was my stress signal: Lori, come help me, I can't do it alone."