Tucker Carlson on Wednesday night described the mayor of Chicago as a Nazi and 'a monster' for decreeing that she would only give ...
Tucker Carlson on Wednesday night described the mayor of Chicago as a Nazi and 'a monster' for decreeing that she would only give interviews to journalists of color.
Lightfoot, who assumed office in May 2019, announced on Tuesday she would only grant one-on-one interviews to 'black and brown' reporters to mark her two-year anniversary in the role.
Her announcement about the temporary policy sparked anger from reporters of all colors, but Lightfoot on Wednesday doubled down on her decision, insisting it was part of her lifelong battle for diversity and inclusion.
'I have been struck since my first day on the campaign trail back in 2018 by the overwhelming whiteness and maleness of Chicago media outlets, editorial boards, the political press corps, and yes, the City Hall press corps specifically,' she wrote in an open letter.
Yet Carlson told his Fox News audience that the 58-year-old was evil.
'To Lori Lightfoot, all that matters is the fact they're white because white people are the same. They are entirely defined by the color of their skin.
'She knows who hate, just by looking at them,' he said.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is facing backlash over a decision to only grant one-on-one interviews to black and brown reporters to mark her two-year anniversary in the role
Tucker Carlson on Wednesday night described the mayor of Chicago as a Nazi and a monster
'If some day the Chicago police round up the entire population of the city, Lori Lightfoot will have no trouble pulling the right ones out of line for punishment.
'By the way, in case you are wondering, yes, that was a Nazi reference. It was deserved.
'Lori Lightfoot is a monster. Any society that allows politicians to talk like this has a very ugly future ahead. Very ugly.'
Leo Terrell, a civil rights attorney and Fox News contributor, later told Sean Hannity that he thought Lightfoot was racist.
'Lori Lightfoot is a racist - not a covert racist, an overt racist,' he said.
'The reason why she gets away with it is because she is black and she got that 'D' in front of her name.
'You want to know what systemic discrimination is, systemic racism? When the mayor of a city institutes a policy - this is systemic racism, but she gets away with it.'
He said journalists in the city should sue her for discrimination.
Lightfoot, who is the city's first female black mayor, was forced to address her decision on Wednesday after a number of local reporters started tweeting a day earlier about how white journalists wouldn't be allowed to interview her one-on-one.
Gregory Pratt, a Chicago Tribune reporter who is Latino, revealed he was among those who had been granted an interview but the newspaper decided to cancel it when Lightfoot refused to lift her ban on other reporters.
Leo Terrell told Hannity that journalist should sue for discrimination, calling the mayor racist
Gregory Pratt, a Chicago Tribune reporter who is Latino, said he was among those who been granted an interview but the newspaper decided to cancel it when Lightfoot refused to lift her ban on other reporters
'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,' Pratt tweeted.
'Politicians don't get to choose who covers them.'
Lightfoot on Wednesday wrote a two-page letter to media outlets explaining her rationale.
'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,' she wrote.
'I have been struck since my first day on the campaign trail back in 2018 by the overwhelming whiteness and maleness of Chicago media outlets, editorial boards, the political press corps, and yes, the City Hall press corps specifically.'
She called it 'unacceptable' that reporters covering City Hall were mostly white.
'Many of them are smart and hard-working, savvy and skilled. But mostly white, nonetheless,' she wrote.
She lectured the Chicago media leadership to evolve and diversify, for fear that 'this arm of our democratic system is on life support.'
Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, a Pulitzer Prize finalist who is a contributing writer for the New Yorker magazine and the New York Times, suggested the move was simply a way to draw attention from the mayor's failures.
'Such astonishing mastery of deflection and distraction ... always hiding from her disastrous record of boldly upholding the status quo in Chicago,' Taylor, who also is a professor at Princeton University, tweeted.
Chicago has long dealt with spiraling crime rates: Five people were killed and 48 people were shot over the past weekend - including two police officers and six children, according to ABC7.
The mayor claimed to be forming a summer crime-fighting plan.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, she confirmed in a series of tweets that she was intentionally 'prioritizing media requests from POC reporters' and that it was a 'shame' the journalists assigned to cover Chicago's City Hall in 2021 were overwhelmingly white.
'I ran to break up the status quo that was failing so many. That isn't just in City Hall. It's a shame that in 2021, the City Hall press corps is overwhelmingly white in a city where more than half of the city identifies as black, Latino, AAPI or Native American,' she tweeted.
The news first emerged on Tuesday when NBC Chicago's political reporter Mary Ann Ahern, who is white, tweeted that only black and brown reporters would be given one-on-one interviews
'Diversity and inclusion is imperative across all institutions including media. In order to progress we must change.
'This is exactly why I'm being intentional about prioritizing media requests from POC reporters on the occasion of the two-year anniversary of my inauguration as mayor of this great city.
'This is an imbalance that needs to change. Chicago is a world-class city. Our local media should reflect the multiple cultures that comprise it. We must be intentional about doing better. I believed that when running for office. I stand on this belief now. It's time for the newsrooms to do better and build teams that reflect the make-up of our city.'
The news first emerged on Tuesday when NBC Chicago's political reporter Mary Ann Ahern, who is white, tweeted: 'As @ChicagoMayor reaches her two year midway point as mayor, her spokeswoman says Lightfoot is granting 1 on 1 interviews - only to black or brown journalists.'
A number of other local TV reporters, including WTTW's Heather Cherone and Paris Schutz quickly tweeted that they had been told the same thing.
Steve Cortes of Newsmax tweeted: 'Never mind the thousands of young black men dead in my city while Lori Lightfoot presides over systemic failure — she's facilitating 'healing' by discriminating against white reporters.'
One local reporter, Kelly Garcia, said that maybe Lightfoot's office would now finally respond to her series of FOIA requests
One local reporter, Kelly Garcia, said that maybe Lightfoot's office would now finally respond to her series of Freedom of Information Act requests.
'Does this mean the Mayor's Office will actually respond to my FOIA requests,' she tweeted. '@chicagosmayor please start by getting my requests fulfilled lol.'
Following Lightfoot's statement, local journalist Taylor Moore said the backlash and reaction to the Mayor's decision was 'fascinating'.
'The response to this is so fascinating. White journalists are aggrieved and journalists of color are like 'lmaooooooo ok??',' she tweeted.
WGN News anchor and political reporter Tahman Bradley said: 'Lightfoot has feuded with certain reporters recently but her office says she wants to shine a spotlight on the lack of diversity in the City Hall briefing room'.
Becky Vevea, a political reporter with WBEZ radio, tweeted: 'Let's root for and support our colleagues who get one-on-ones with @chicagosmayor. It's not a competition. Our city needs all the watchdogging it can get.'
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