Failed presidential candidate/Russian asset Tulsi Gabbard is calling for Lori Lightfoot to resign after the Chicago Mayor announced last week she would be limiting interviews about her two-year anniversary in office to journalists of color.
In a statement, the transphobic ex-congresswoman, who frequently goes on Fox News to bemoan cancel culture, accused Lightfoot of “anti-white racism” and said her decision to only grant one-on-one interviews to BIPOC reporters was “abhorrent.”
Lightfoot said she was being “intentional about prioritizing media requests from POC reporters on the occasion of the two-year anniversary.”
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The decision came after she said 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.”
Related: 2020 hopeful Tulsi Gabbard says she’s really, really sorry for her long history of homophobia
And nobody was more upset about this than Gabbard.
“Mayor Lightfoot’s blatant anti-white racism is abhorrent,” she tweeted over the weekend. “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.”
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
For the record, it’s Vice President Kamala Harris. Also, there’s no such thing as “anti-white racism.”
Here’s how folx on Twitter responded to Gabbard’s rage tweet…
That’s Vice President Harris to you, you unwitting Russian asset.
— Eden Varela 🏳️🌈 (@edenvjdmd) May 22, 2021
Wait until you hear about anti-black racism. That shit will blow your mind.
— I Smoked Matt Gaetz‘s Hula Hooping Nude Ex GF (@BlackKnight10k) May 21, 2021
This is not a very “Aloha” look for you, Mrs. Gabbard.
— Leftist Ryan Knight🥂 (@highprogressive) May 21, 2021
This you, sis?
Cause this looks like you engaging in cancel culture, to me. pic.twitter.com/nlhy2eqTtZ— Sloth (@sloth_dc) May 22, 2021
I think resignation is a bit extreme. She’s just caught up in the wokeness. I do not believe she is actually racist.
— Thăng Long ❼ (@pho__15) May 21, 2021
Let’s be absolutely clear what’s happening here – Mayor Lightfoot is saying that in a city which is 50% people of color, having an almost entirely white press corps is a bad thing. It means that those reporters are not representative of the public they inform.
— Tom Coates (@tomcoates) May 21, 2021
Finally showing your white supremacist roots huh
— Amy Dentata 🔜 (@AmyDentata) May 21, 2021
c’mon, this is clown shit.
— molly conger (@socialistdogmom) May 21, 2021
That’s Vice President Harris to you, boo boo. pic.twitter.com/z0bxkkCn0i
— chris evans (@chris_notcapn) May 21, 2021
As a white person that actually voted for you in the primaries (you were still on my PA ballot), I find it disturbing that you are courting the wrong “white” people on this. Trust me, white people will survive this “anti-white” act by Mayor Lightfoot, just fine.
— Christopher Michael Jones (@bluepoet3) May 22, 2021
Racism is a structure. You mean bigotry or prejudice. You’d still be wrong, but that’s what you mean. Stop pretend Democrating please
— steven (@egyptian_neenan) May 21, 2021
You are trash
— Nick is a Fred Hampton Leftist 🥋 (@SocialistMMA) May 21, 2021
Graham Gremore is the Features Editor and a Staff Writer at Queerty. Follow him on Twitter @grahamgremore.
LumpyPillows
Well, seriously, Mayor Lightfoot just banned white people. What was she thinking? A really stupid overreach that opens the door for idiots like Tulsi to get on a soapbox and scream. This is why people are still republicans and we lose elections.
Cam
Kind of like how newsrooms banned POC from being hired for son long or from being sent out. The same why Bush and Trump only called on certain people, or Tom DeLay said Republicans wouldn’t meet with lobbying firms who didn’t hire more Republicans and those firms hustled to do that, the Mayor is making a point.
It’s heavy handed, sure, but so has the discrimination, so I’ll be interested to see what happens.
LumpyPillows
Well, I do support affirmative action, but this is just too much. It goes to the trend of liberals to take a winning position and then overplay it into a losing position.
MissTerri
I suspect the Mayor was hoping “black” and “brown” journalists might go easier on her and not ask about the horrific increase in Crime in her city over the past year!!!!
Cam
@LumpyPillows
Except pointing out the issue didn’t do anything to solve it. If she gets a response in the next week or so good for her, if she doesn’t, that will be something to deal with then.
But I haven’t heard of any chance that Chicago is going to elect a Republican because of this.
LumpyPillows
@cam But Illinois might.
Cam
@LumpyPillows
I’ll wait to see, “Fear of right wing reaction” has kept Dems paralyzed for a decade, so maybe a hard swing will get things done.
Either way Tulsi was an obvious Republican hiding as a Dem.
cliche guevara
Where did she ban anything?
LumpyPillows
@Cam nah, you’re trying too hard. The democrats failed to increase minimum wage for fear of republicans. They will screw up raising taxes on the the rich for similar reasons probably. Both things they need to do. That’s not the same as pushing extreme nonsense that has no value except to divide. It is hollow nonsense like banning all white interviewers that has no real value for the people, except to grandstand that democrats excel at. Self defeating nonsense.
Cam
Gabbard was always a right wing, anti-LGBTQ bigot, but to win in Hawaii she ran as a Democrat.
The problem with Tulsi for the Republicans, and probably Russia, is that she just wasn’t that great at hiding her real opinions so blew their chance to use her as a spoiler in the election as they did with Jill Stein previously.
ciasteczek
“there’s no such thing as “anti-white racism.””
It is by far the dumbest sentence i read on queerty this month.
LumpyPillows
Explain that. I mean there is dumb and then there is laughably dumb.
MissTerri
Politicians DO NOT get to pick and choose which reporters ask them questions based on racial preferences! If a Mayor in Alabama said only white people could interview them, imagine the rending of garments!!!!!!
Cam
Hmmm, funny then that Bush refused to ask Helen Thomas questions because she was Palestinian, and Trump tended to dismiss, yell at, or ignore the women and black women reporters.
But it’s cute you keep on trying troll.
MissTerri
Please get help, Dear! You’re not making any sense!!!!
Cam
@MissTerri
Sweetie, if you’re going to troll, at least have some response available when your comments are pointed out as B.S.
MissTerri
Poor old Cam! Triggered again! REEEE!!
cliche guevara
You are right and Mayor Lightfoot didn’t say reporters of a certain race couldn’t ask her questions. Imaginary crisis averted!
Liquid Silver
“Chicago Mayor announced last week she would be limiting interviews about her two-year anniversary in office to journalists of color”
Um.
MissTerri
The reading comprehension of the average commenter on this site is very very Low!!!
Cam
@MissTerri
As usual, when the right wing troll can’t defend it’s comment against the other posters it just lashes out.
Awww, did those evil facts hurt your feelings?
MissTerri
@Cam
Look at you aflappin arms all aflutter! REEEEEE!!!
Cam
@MissTerri
Precious, please keep on responding, every single time you can’t defend your previous lie and resort to lashing out it just makes you look more sad, tired, and embarrassing.
Republicans are really hurting if you’re the best troll they can afford. Then again, a right wing bigot coming in here, they probably pay you in Dollar Store confederate ashtrays and designer imposter perfume.
MissTerri
@Cam
Look at her go! RREEEEEEE!!!
Hdtex
MissTerrri really IS dumber than a box of rocks.
Kangol2
Given that Mayor Lori Lightfoot has broken most of her campaign promises and is catering to the racist Chicago Police Department AND to the White power brokers, especially real estate, banking and high finance, etc. in Chicago, it’s laughably absurd to call her “anti-White racist.” Tell that to her White wife!
This was a stunt to try to appeal to the significant slice of POC voters who put her in office, only to see her kick them to the curb. It’s a clumsy stunt, though I get the point she is trying to make about the gross lack of diversity that is majority POC (and has been for decades), but it isn’t going to help her in the short or long terms.
As for Tulsi Gabbard, why is she so worked up over this yet silent about the ongoing horrific violence in Syria that her pal Assad is still engaging in, or the belligerent actions of Russia, who she allegedly cozied up to as well? Oh wait, I know the answer: she isn’t going to criticize these real warmongering goons she’s enamored of when it’s far easier to go on FoxNews and engage in a fake culture war BS!
Liquid Silver
Whataboutism isn’t effective. She’s talking about this topic. Discuss it here. Discuss other topics in threads that concern them.
Yes, it’s a stunt. It’s not a cunning stunt. Let’s just put it that way.
GentlemanCaller
I honestly don’t care if Mayor Lightfoot is overplaying the race thing or not; if Tulsi Gabbard is against it, then I’ll support whatever nonsense the mayor is up to.
MissTerri
Now that’s the sign of a Truly Sophisticated Thinker!!!! NEEEEEEEEEEEEXT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sqwoah
Somebody hang a different opinion than you does not make them psychotic. Grow up.
Seth
Ah, the smell of white fragility in the morning.
People seem to be going out of their way to omit the “one-on-one” aspect of the interviews, which isn’t surprising because those same people can never have a conversation on race in good faith.
White people will still get to ask her questions at press conferences and such, they just won’t get first and only access to one-on-one interviews because our ancestors cashed those chips in by having a white-only media for a few hundred years.
A lot of people seem to also be purposefully dense on the difference between institutional racism and casual prejudice, to the surprise of no one paying attention.
MissTerri
It’s simply ADORABLE how you throw around words like you have any idea what you’re talking about!!! Even the National Association of BLACK Journalists said they do not support her tactic!!!!! Mayhaps you should LEARN before you SPEAK!!!
Cam
@MissTerri
It’s cute how the right wing troll thinks if it capitalizes certain words it will help it pushing the same old B.S.
MissTerri
@Cam
RREEEEEEEE!!!!
Cam
@MissTerri
I love it, you always make it so painfully obvious when you get caught in a lie or can’t defend your comment. Thank you for the delicious affirmation sweetie!
Fahd
Tempest in a teapot.Are they really knocking down the door to interview her about her second anniversary? Lol
I’m sure the newspapers/media outlets of Chicago can strike back at the mayor much more effectively than can the right-wing “gays” who comment on Queerty. Let the media criticize her in their daily paper/broadcasts; let’s see how they justify their old-white-boy’s network – doubt they can.
Seems within the Mayor’s discretion to do this, and let her pay the consequences when reelection time comes around (won’t matter). Trump ignored/insulted/ejected Spanish language broadcasters, and I think that he did have to relent – so maybe someone should pursue this in the courts if its her official policy and not just a wish or preference.
Meanwhile, giving voice to Gabbard, who is a known Russian plant, is irresponsible. Putin/the Kremlin spread disinformation and discord through her and others like her. Reporting her utterances as news is just a little tiny bit above quoting Q-Anon in my opinion. I do my best to avoid and not fall for the Russian disinformation/destabilization efforts.
OhPlease
Lightfoot’s whole platform was bashing Trump and expecting a free pass for having a black ass. Street folks call it “talking out your ass.” She’s been, for the most part , completely ineffective despite having actually had the full support of a red governor. Crime is growing steadily worse, and Trump actually drew support from BOTH sides for stating a threat to send in the National Guard. The South Side, where I have family, is becoming a killing field and it’s infected the whole metro area. She’s doing damage control by limiting questions to puff pieces which any reporter could explain, we see this shit all the time. She’s actually one who, like many of the radical left, need THEIR backgrounds investigated for Russian ties because that BLM scam they are repping is nothing but a Russian-funded, Russian-trained race war and extortion front.
Fahd
Are you MissTerri under yet another screen name? Same style and misdirection. One Russian spy at a time, and Gabard definitely is one.
moretruth
Mayor Lightfoot is being racist, hypocritical and stupid. It doesn’t need Tulsi to point that out.
inbama
55 shot, 11 killed this weekend in Chicago for a total of 227 killed as of May 24.
Will Chicago EVER have a mayor that takes on what should be the Number One problem?
Cam
Hmmmm, you mean like the way crime rates are typically far higher in red states and yet their governors and mayors are instead trying to suppress voters and attack abortion clinics?
DuMaurier
Whether it was a good or bad idea, favoring reporters who are POC is not not not “the same” as favoring white guys. There’s something called “history” and “context” that tells us that.
That said, that one tweet’s “Racism is a structure” rebuttal is annoying. Not because it isn’t a valid point of view, but any dictionary will tell you it’s perfectly okay to refer to “prejudice” and “bigotry” as “racism”. You can say (and I’d agree) that if a black person hates and looks down on white people because they’re white it’s not as reprehensible as the reverse phenomenon, but it’s defintionally fine to call him “racist”. You don’t get to tell other people what they mean when they say something.
americontrarian
Took the time to register to leave a comment. Tulsi is an attention seeking, unimpressive public person. Fair enough. Her comments aren’t necessarily wrong though, nor worse that Lightfoots’.
To say that anti-white racism is categorically not possible is frankly dumb and dangerous. Your very gay audience is less hard left fanatic than you may suspect, Graham. Public personas need to step back from a drum beat of race essentialism.
americontrarian
Another comment, Graham. Your description of Gabbard as a “Russian asset” comes from Hillary Clinton. Gabbard sued Clinton over this as slander for $50 million. Suit was later dropped by Gabbard because Covid made things complicated (expensive), but I’d caution care before throwing around potentially slanderous insults against people who sue for defamation for big money.