Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson repeatedly refused to answer when a reporter asked whether he would want Immigration and Customs Enforcement to deport an illegal alien accused of brutally attacking and raping a woman if the victim had been Johnson’s own wife. The reporter asked Johnson several times to provide a simple yes-or-no response, but the sanctuary-city mayor instead attempted to end the exchange. Johnson’s handlers also intervened before the mayor moved on to another question without addressing the alleged crime.
The confrontation unfolded during a Chicago press conference as the reporter challenged Johnson over the city’s treatment of illegal aliens and the residents affected by illegal alien crime. The reporter said the Chicagoans he speaks with believe Johnson has placed the interests of illegal aliens ahead of the interests of the city’s citizens. He then used a recent alleged sexual assault to press Johnson on the real-world consequences of that position.
“Well, the real Chicagoans that I talk to, that I communicate with, mostly black and brown, actually, tell me that you don’t seem to know the difference between illegal aliens and real Chicago citizens,” the reporter told Johnson. “They feel that you are siding with the illegal aliens over them in their communities.” As the reporter continued his setup, someone near Johnson attempted to hurry him along, saying, “Let’s get to the question.”
The reporter then described the alleged attack at the center of his question. “The real question is simply this: I don’t know how to make it any more direct. An illegal alien from Nicaragua grabbed a woman on the North Side, bashed her head into the sidewalk, knocked her unconscious, and raped her,” he said. Video of the exchange was shared by RNC Research.
The reporter then asked Johnson to imagine that the woman who had allegedly been attacked was someone in his own family. “If that had been your wife, Stacy,” he began before being cut off. Someone near the mayor quickly intervened, saying, “Okay. All right. We’re not going to answer it. Thank you. Thanks, guys. All right.”
Despite the interruption, the reporter continued asking whether Johnson would want federal immigration authorities to remove the man accused of committing the attack. “Would you want ICE to deport…” he asked before Johnson attempted to close down the exchange. “All right. Let’s, let’s, let’s move on,” the mayor responded without giving an answer.
Watch the tense exchange here:
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The reporter refused to let the mayor’s non-answer pass without another attempt. “Yes or no?” he asked before Johnson again said they should move on. The reporter then appealed to Johnson personally, telling him, “Answer the question as a man, not as mayor, but as a man,” and asked whether he would want ICE “to deport that rapist.”
Johnson still did not provide a yes-or-no answer. Instead, he responded, “Thanks. Thank you,” and called on someone else at the press conference. The reporter treated Johnson’s refusal as an answer in itself, saying, “Okay, Mayor. That’s the answer. That’s the answer for real Chicago, Mayor.”
The exchange abruptly shifted when the next person apologized for arriving late and blamed the delay on traffic. Rather than returning to the question concerning the alleged rape or explaining his position on deporting the accused man, Johnson made a joking remark about the excuse. “You’re not blaming me for the traffic, are you, Tamar?” Johnson asked. “Watch it.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video.