Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot Says It’s Trump’s Fault After Teachers Union Stops Schools From Reopening

By LifeZette

·Updated: February 3, 2021

Former President Donald Trump may be out of office, but that’s not going to stop Chicago’s Democratic Mayor Lori Lightfoot from continuing to make him the scapegoat for her own failures.

She showed that once again on Tuesday night, when she blamed Trump for the teachers union blocking Chicago students from returning to school.

Chicago’s School Mess

Students kindergarten through eighth grade were supposed to return to in-person schooling in Chicago, but this didn’t happen after the city’s teachers union refused to comply with the city’s demands, claiming that in-person learning is still unsafe.

The union claimed this despite the fact that the city of Chicago has spent more than $100 million to make schools safe, and that private schools in the area have already gone back to learning in-person.

Lightfoot Blames Trump

Instead of taking responsibility for this mess herself, Lightfoot placed the blame on Trump.

“This is a very difficult situation and we’re in it, still, because of the incompetence of the previous administration. So I think it’s important for both sides to come to the table in good faith, recognize that we’re both trying to work through a very challenging situation but we must get a deal done,” Lightfoot said.

Later in the interview, Lightfoot doubled down on blaming Trump.

“These are really difficult times in a pandemic, exacerbated by the incompetence of the previous administration that didn’t leave us with enough vaccine to really quickly get to the entire population in our city that needs it,” the Democrat mayor said.

“But we’re going to keep working hard recognizing the concern that, really, all of our residents have regarding COVID-19,” she added.

Lightfoot Essentially Threatens Chicago Teachers

On Sunday, Lightfoot unsuccessfully tried to threaten teachers to return back to in-person schooling the next day.

“All teachers, pre-K through eight and cluster teachers must report,” she said. “If you don’t have an approved accommodation, we expect to see you back in class. Those who do not report to work … we will have to take action. Let’s avoid that.”

Like many other things Lightfoot has tried as mayor, this failed miserably.

This piece was written by James Samson on February 3, 2021. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.