Democrat Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot reportedly only conducts interviews with journalists of color according to a new Fox News article citing multiple reporters.
NBC 5 Chicago political reporter Mary Ann Ahern tweeted Tuesday, “As @chicagosmayor reaches her two year midway point as mayor, her spokeswoman says Lightfoot is granting 1 on 1 interviews – only to Black or Brown journalists.”
WTTW “Chicago Tonight” co-anchor and political correspondent Paris Schutz confirmed Ahern’s report.
“I was told the same thing,” Schutz commented.
Fellow WTTW Chicago politics reporter Heather Cherone similarly noted, “I can confirm, alderman.”
It is unclear when the practice began.
Breitbart News noted on Wednesday, “Lightfoot, the city’s first black female mayor, and also the first lesbian mayor, has been a target of public criticism for her harsh policies during the coronavirus pandemic, her failure to manage the Black Lives Matter riots, and a sharp rise in crime throughout the already-violent city.”
Conservative commentator Todd Starnes noted, “The mayor’s decision to cancel culture the lily-white journalists caused a bit of a kerfuffle on social media. On one side are folks who call the mayor a racist. On the other are defenders of the mayor who say the white reporters are showing signs of privilege.”
The news may be limited to local reporters, however.
The Chicago mayor appeared on MSNBC Monday with Stephanie Ruhle, a white host.
Lightfoot joined Ruhle to discuss the state of the pandemic in Chicago after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced last week that fully vaccinated Americans can stop wearing masks.
“To say, well, if you’re vaccinated, you don’t have to wear a mask, that’s great, but what about all the other people that are out there that aren’t vaccinated, and there’s no way to know that?” Lightfoot said in the interview.
Lightfoot said that Chicagoans who had received the coronavirus vaccine should still wear masks, despite new CDC guidance stating it is not necessary to do so.
