Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Thursday said it’s "not a good thing" for the country if people don’t take seriously what a president says.
The comment came as the mayor appeared on WGN-AM 720 and responded again to President Donald Trump repeatedly bringing up Chicago violence. "It’s sad that a president is ill-informed and continues to repeat things," Emanuel said on "The Steve Cochran Show," before repeating his argument that violence is up in many American cities that Trump doesn’t speak about publicly.
The mayor suggested that at some point, Trump was given bad advice that the best way to deal with violence is simply for police to get tougher. He reiterated Chicago would like federal aid in specific areas, including gun prosecutions and funding for mentoring programs, but said Trump’s hurting his own credibility by saying things that aren’t true.
"My thing is, it’s helpful to have a president as a partner. I know the difference between not and having that partner," he said. "We’re ready. But let’s be actually informed about what the problem is, and then we could be informed about what the solution is, and not just kind of repeat stuff that’s not only not true.
"But actually, it’s not helpful if people basically across the country say, ‘Ah, it’s the president,’ and just shrug as if it’s not serious. That’s not a good thing for us as a country if people don’t take what the president’s saying seriously," the mayor said. "And that’s, you know, you’re allowed to have your own opinion, obviously. You just can’t have your own facts."
Emanuel said he doesn’t know why Trump focuses so often on Chicago. "You’re asking me to try to figure out what’s going on in this president’s head? I can’t do that for you," the mayor said during the radio interview.
Amid Trump immigration furor, Emanuel hosts Chicago Dreamers for dinner Bill Ruthhart
Mayor Rahm Emanuel and first lady Amy Rule hosted six Dreamer students for dinner at their home Tuesday night to stress Chicago’s status as a sanctuary city among growing tensions over President Donald Trump’s new immigration policies.
“The dreams of these kids to go to college and what they want…
Mayor Rahm Emanuel and first lady Amy Rule hosted six Dreamer students for dinner at their home Tuesday night to stress Chicago’s status as a sanctuary city among growing tensions over President Donald Trump’s new immigration policies.
“The dreams of these kids to go to college and what they want…
(Bill Ruthhart)
For more than a year, Trump has time and again talked about the problem of violence in Chicago. In less than three weeks in office, he’s turned to the topic five times.
The latest came Wednesday, when Trump told a conference of police chiefs and sheriffs that immigrants in the U.S. illegally are driving up crime.
"You have to call the federal government, Homeland Security, because so much of the problems — you look at Chicago and you look at other places. So many of the problems are caused by gang members, many of whom are not even legally in our country," Trump said.
Trump offered no evidence for his claim. Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said she doesn’t "know anyone in Chicago who believes" immigrants living here illegally cause Chicago’s gang problems.
"Unfortunately, the difficulties that we have are homegrown. They are not a function of illegal immigrants," she said.
jebyrne@chicagotribune.com
Trump again calls out Chicago on violence and repeats debunked murder rate claim Katherine Skiba
President Donald Trump on Tuesday again singled out violence in Chicago, this time during a White House meeting with sheriffs where he repeated a debunked claim that the U.S. murder rate is the highest it’s been in 45 years.
“If you ran Chicago, you would solve that nightmare, I’ll tell you,” Trump…
President Donald Trump on Tuesday again singled out violence in Chicago, this time during a White House meeting with sheriffs where he repeated a debunked claim that the U.S. murder rate is the highest it’s been in 45 years.
“If you ran Chicago, you would solve that nightmare, I’ll tell you,” Trump…
(Katherine Skiba)
Twitter @_johnbyrne
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