DON’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT HISTORY: Chicago Mayor Blames Richard Nixon as Over 100 People Shot at Weekend.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson appeared to suggest President Richard Nixon was to blame for the city’s pervasive gun violence problem.
More than 100 people were injured in shootings in Chicago, at least 19 of them fatally, over the Fourth of July weekend, when there is often a spike in gun violence.
“We are standing here today talking about a violent weekend because of generations of disinvestment and deep disenfranchisement in the exact communities where so much of the violence has taken place,” Johnson, a Democrat who took office last year, said during a press conference on Monday.
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“Black death has been unfortunately been accepted in this country for a very long time. We had a chance 60 years ago to get at the root causes. And people mocked President Johnson, and we ended up with Richard Nixon. I’m going to work hard every day to transform this city. That’s what it takes to build a better, stronger, safer Chicago.”
Johnson did not elaborate further on his remarks about Nixon. His office has been contacted for comment via email.
The Richard Nixon Foundation responded to Johnson’s remarks on social media.
“Mayor Johnson’s reference to President Nixon is gratuitous and the facts are not on his side in his characterization of Richard Nixon and the Nixon administration’s civil rights record,” the foundation wrote in a thread on X, formerly Twitter, along with a list of the administration’s accomplishments.
Mayor Johnson’s reference to President Nixon is gratuitous and the facts are not on his side in his characterization of Richard Nixon and the Nixon administration’s civil rights record.
Here are the facts: 🧵 https://t.co/bWBx5v7DJd
— Richard Nixon Foundation (@nixonfoundation) July 9, 2024
Although as a big government Rockefeller Republican, Nixon’s record was far from perfect: Gun control: Richard Nixon wished for total handgun ban.