Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is backing a city Alderman’s push to punish Republican nominee for president Donald Trump by summarily removing the honorary street sign posted on a portion of Wabash Avenue to honor the real estate mogul’s Chicago Trump Towers property.
The measure to remove the sign was introduced by 42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly who attacked Trump for using the Windy City as an example of failed liberal policies by highlighting the violence and rapidly rising murder rate that has made Chicago one of the most dangerous cities in the nation.
“His divisive comments about various segments of Chicago society, whether you’re Latino or another minority, an immigrant, a woman, that in and of itself is offensive,” Reilly complained to the city’s NBC affiliate. “But his decision to drag us into this campaign and mischaracterize and paint a very distorted caricature of Chicago is a mistake and we reserve these honorary street signs for special Chicagoans who have lifted up this city and move us forward.”
Chicago mayor and one-time chief of staff for Barack Obama Rahm Emanuel jumped on the bandwagon to push the proposal through the city council.
“We’ll put the sign back up when he releases his tax returns,” Emanuel told reporters.
Mayor Emanuel, a big backer of Hillary Clinton and brother to Ezekiel Emanuel, one of the president’s Obamacare architects, added that he not only wanted to take the Trump street sign down but hoped to use the discussion to get out the vote for Hillary.
Emanuel has also criticized Trump for using Chicago as an example of the bad policies infesting America’s Democrat-controlled big cities. In August the mayor slammed Trump for using Chicago in his stump speeches merely to play “a political game.”
“He’s got an election, he’s not interested in Chicago,” Emanuel said when asked to respond to Trump’s criticism.
But both Alderman Reilly and Mayor Emanuel have in the past been the happy recipients of large cash donations from the GOP nominee. During the time Trump’s Chicago tower was being built in the city Reilly received up to $5,500 and Emanuel has received $50,000 from Trump.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.