Illinois Governor J.B Pritzker and candidates to be the next mayor of Chicago took shots at Florida Governor Ron DeSantis this weekend after it was revealed that DeSantis is meeting with members of Chicago’s Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) on Monday.
Pritzker called DeSantis ‘dangerous and hateful’ and urged any candidate who is running in the mayoral election to condemn the meeting between DeSantis and the FOP.
“Ron DeSantis’s dangerous and hateful agenda has no place in Illinois.
Banning books, playing politics with people’s lives, and censoring history are antithetical to who we are.
Every candidate hoping to hold public office in the land of Lincoln should condemn this event.”
Ron DeSantis's dangerous and hateful agenda has no place in Illinois.
Banning books, playing politics with people's lives, and censoring history are antithetical to who we are.
Every candidate hoping to hold public office in the land of Lincoln should condemn this event. https://t.co/cD8Uo3u8TG
— JB Pritzker (@JBPritzker) February 17, 2023
Incumbent Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who is running for her second term, used the meeting to attack candidate Paul Vallas. Vallas was endorsed by the Chicago FOP and is currently leading all candidates in the polls, including Lightfoot.
Lightfoot has overseen a significant spike in violent crime in Chicago since 2019, when she took office. The city is on pace to see another increase in crime this year, as 64 murders have already occurred since the start of 2023.
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“Ron DeSantis has perfected being a bigoted, racist demagogue. But Paul Vallas is fast on his heels,” she said.
"Ron DeSantis has perfected being a bigoted, racist demagogue. But Paul Vallas is fast on his heels," https://t.co/SocZWFMSwb
— Progressive Push (@progressivepush) February 18, 2023
“So he can say whatever he wants, Lightfoot added. “His actions speak volumes, and his actions are that he is playing footsie with the far right-wing fringe of the Republican Party.”
Another high-profile candidate who is currently a sitting Congressman, Representative Jesus Garcia, D-Il. pounced on Vallas as well. He called DeSantis ‘dangerous’ and ‘xenophobic’ and urged Vallas to condemn him.
“Paul Vallas must condemn the FOP for inviting Ron DeSantis, a dangerous and xenophobic authoritarian, to our state,” Garcia said in a statement.
Garcia told Vallas that he ‘Won’t be a mayor for all Chicagoans’ because of his moderate politics and pro-law enforcement beliefs.
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And now his buddy John Catanzara is welcoming Ron DeSantis to Chicagoland.
Will Paul Vallas answer if he's ok with the FOP inviting Ron DeSantis to speak?
Regardless of his answer, we know he won't be a Mayor for all Chicagoans. https://t.co/jjcgLvoc3d
— Jesús “Chuy” García (@ChuyChicago) February 16, 2023
After being attacked by multiple mayoral candidates and an inflammatory statement from the Governor of Illinois, Vallas relented and condemned the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police, despite their endorsement of his campaign.
“I wholeheartedly agree with Governor Pritzker that there is simply no place in Chicago for a right-wing extremist like Ron DeSantis, and I am disappointed in FOP leadership for inviting him to speak to officers. DeSantis’ record of trying to erase the LGBTQ community, banning books on Black history, and much more is not in line with my values, the values of our community, or the values of the rank and file police officers who I believe have no interest in getting swept up in culture wars and national Republican Party politics.” Vallas said, giving in to the guilt-by-association attacks that his opponents and left-wing activists levied against him.
Paul Vallas on FOP hosting Ron DeSantis: “I wholeheartedly agree with Governor Pritzker that there is simply no place in Chicago for a right-wing extremist like Ron DeSantis, and I am disappointed in FOP leadership for inviting him to speak to officers." pic.twitter.com/oThfmtPtLQ
— Gregory Pratt (@royalpratt) February 17, 2023
“I want to build trust between all of Chicago’s communities and the police by holding everyone accountable, because that is the only way we can make our city safer. This decision by the FOP leadership makes that job harder.” He concluded.
DeSantis has not publicly responded to the backlash against his appearance at the Fraternal Order of Police meeting.
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