Tulsi Gabbard calls on Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot to resign for ‘anti-Whiteness’
Thomas McDonald
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Former Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard accused Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot of being an “anti-white” racist after Lightfoot said she’d only grant interviews to non-white members of the media.
“Mayor Lightfoot’s blatant anti-white racism is abhorrent,” Gabbard wrote. “I call upon President Biden, Kamala Harris, and other leaders of our county—of all races—to join me in calling for Mayor Lightfoot’s resignation. Our leaders must condemn all racism, including anti-white.”
Lightfoot, the city’s first Black and openly gay mayor, received criticism after announcing that she would only grant individual interviews with journalists of color. She slammed Chicago media outlets for their “overwhelming whiteness and maleness” in a two paged letter on Wednesday.
“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.”
In the statement, Lightfoot also said she “doesn’t have time” to teach “white, mostly male media about implicit bias.”
“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,” she added.
Gabbard wasn’t the only one to accuse Lightfoot of racism. Senator Ted Cruz tweeted saying “overt racism from the mayor of Chicago.”
Other users pointed out the hypocrisy of Lightfoot’s statement considering she has a white wife.
Another Twitter user blasted Lightfoot for trying to solve racism “with racism.”