MEAWW.COM / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

Tucker Carlson compares Lori Lightfoot to Nazi for saying she’ll only do 1-on-1 interviews with reporters of color

On Tuesday, May 18, Lightfoot, who became the Mayor of Chicago in May 2019, announced she will only give one-on-one interviews to 'Black and Brown' journalists to mark the anniversary of joining the office

Tucker Carlson did not mince his words Wednesday night, May 19, while criticizing the Mayor of Chicago, Lori Lightfoot, who reportedly said she will only give one-on-one interviews to journalists of color. On Tuesday, May 18, Lightfoot, who became the Mayor in May 2019, announced that she would like to be only covered by “Black and Brown” news reporters to mark the anniversary of joining the office. NBC Chicago's political reporter Mary Ann Ahern broke the news in a tweet that read, “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.”

Also in a tweet on Wednesday, May 19, Lightfoot stated, “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.”

READ MORE

Tucker Carlson says Pentagon too busy purging soldiers not 'woke enough' instead of dealing with UFOs

'TuckerVaxxed' trends after Tucker Carlson asked if he's been vaccinated as he opposes Covid inoculation

“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,” she added.

But Carlson was not at all happy with the idea as he said, “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. 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.”

Not just Carlson, Leo Terrell, a civil rights attorney, also called Lightfoot a racist as he told Sean Hannity, “Lori Lightfoot is a racist - not a covert racist, an overt racist. 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.”

Lightfoot -- the city's first female Black mayor as well as first openly gay mayor -- also penned down an open letter to explain her decision. She said, “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. 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,” before adding, “Many of them are smart and hard-working, savvy and skilled. But mostly white, nonetheless.”

While there were some who appreciated the 58-year-old’s new decision, most condemned it. Chicago Tribune reporter Gregory Pratt tweeted, “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. Politicians don’t get to choose who covers them.”

Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, a contributing writer for the New Yorker magazine and the New York Times, wrote, “Such astonishing mastery of deflection and distraction...always hiding from her disastrous record of boldly upholding the status quo in Chicago.” “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,” Steve Cortes of Newsmax added.

Meanwhile, people on Twitter reacted to Carlson’s response to Lightfoot’s decision. One user tweeted, “@TuckerCarlson calling out racist bigot thug Chicago Mayor @LoriLightfoot tonight was nothing short of spectacular. Open your eyes America. Racism & violence against White Americans is condoned & sometimes encouraged. #Fightback #MAGA2024.” While another one defended the Mayor by stating, “Hey @tuckercarlson now you have a inkling of what people of color have felt when being discriminated against... #lorilightfoot is educating you and others…”