Commentary: Report: Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot Only Gives Interviews To Black or Brown Journalists

Chicago’s Democratic Mayor Lori Lightfoot is no stranger to controversy (her hypocrisy regarding the COVID-19 pandemic speaks for itself), but her most recent escapade probably takes the cake.

Fox News reported earlier this week that Lightfoot appears to now only be granting interviews to “journalists of color,” which she appears to define as “black or brown” people.

The story was first broken on Twitter by WMAQ-TV political reporter Mary Ann Ahern. “As ⁦ reaches her two year midway point as mayor, her spokeswoman says Lightfoot is granting 1 on 1 interviews – only to Black or Brown journalists,” Ahern tweeted on Tuesday.

WTTW-TV political correspondent Paris Schultz echoed Ahren’s claim, saying, “I was told the same thing.”

Such a story seems absurd on the surface, even by progressive standards. How can someone in such a position of power engage in blatant racial discrimination with a straight face? George Cardenas, the alderman for Chicago’s 12th Ward, believed there had to have been some mistake.

However, WTTW politics reporter Heather Cherone replied, saying that she, too, could confirm that Ahern’s original tweet was true. To his credit, Cardenas immediately revised his original position, and demanded that Lightfoot’s policy be “corrected.”