On Friday, former Democratic congresswoman and presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard called Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s decision to only grant interviews to black and brown journalists “anti-white racism.”
The Iraq War veteran Gabbard called for Lightfoot to resign.
Mayor Lightfoot's blatant anti-white racism is abhorrent. I call upon President Biden, Kamala Harris, and other leaders of our county—of all races—to join me in calling for Mayor Lightfoot's resignation. Our leaders must condemn all racism, including anti-white.
— Tulsi Gabbard 🌺 (@TulsiGabbard) May 21, 2021
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Gabbard: ‘Mayor Lightfoot’s Blatant Anti-White Racism Is Abhorrent’
Lightfoot was criticized by many last week after deciding to only give one-on-one interviews to non-white journalists.
Gabbard, of Samoan descent, blasted the decision was “abhorrent” and said political leaders should “condemn all racism, including anti-white.”
“Mayor Lightfoot’s blatant anti-white racism is abhorrent,” Gabbard tweeted. “I call upon President Biden, Kamala Harris, and other leaders of our county—of all races—to join me in calling for Mayor Lightfoot’s resignation.”
Gabbard added, “Our leaders must condemn all racism, including anti-white.”
But some some on the left had a problem with Gabbard’s use of the phrase “anti-white racism.”
Left-Wing Attacks Democrat Gabbard
Lawyer and Democrat Qasim Rashid tweeted at Gabbard, “PSA: White is not a culture. There’s German culture. French culture. Dutch culture. Irish culture. Celebrate them!”
“But no such thing as ‘white culture,” he added. “So when people label racism as ‘anti-white,’—they’re not defending any culture—they’re defending being racist w/o consequence.”
PSA: White is not a culture. There's German culture. French culture. Dutch culture. Irish culture. Celebrate them! But no such thing as "white culture."
So when people label racism as "anti-white,"—they're not defending any culture—they're defending being racist w/o consequence.
— Qasim Rashid, Esq. (@QasimRashid) May 21, 2021
Progressive activist Charlotte Clymer wrote, “There is no such thing as “anti-white racism”. There are no systemic or widely-cultural barriers for white people that infringe on how we move through the world. This is silly as hell.”
There is no such thing as "anti-white racism". There are no systemic or widely-cultural barriers for white people that infringe on how we move through the world. This is silly as hell. https://t.co/uAYCRJ9ExP
— Charlotte Clymer 🇺🇦 (@cmclymer) May 21, 2021
Conservative Support For Gabbard
However, Gabbard got some praise from conservatives.
Republican Congresswoman Rep. Lauren Boebert tweeted, “I’m with @TulsiGabbard on Lori Lightfoot. Her comments are disgusting, despicable and simply inexplicable. She needs to resign.”
I’m with @TulsiGabbard on Lori Lightfoot.
Her comments are disgusting, despicable and simply inexplicable.
She needs to resign.
— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) May 22, 2021
Lightfoot ignited this controversy when a political reporter for Chicago’s NBC affiliate tweeted on Tuesday that the mayor was only allowing journalists of color to interview her.
On Wednesday, Lightfoot confirmed this, saying in part that she was “struck since my first day on the campaign trail 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.”
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.
— Archived: Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot (@mayorlightfoot) May 19, 2021
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The mayor then tweeted that she was being “intentional about prioritizing media requests from POC reporters on the occasion of the two-year anniversary.”
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