Chicago Mayor Blames Trump for Violent Gun Crime in Her City
Mayor blames President's failure to take action on gun reform legislation,
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Chicago's Democrat Mayor Lori Lightfoot blamed the soaring gun violence in her city on President Donald Trump despite refusing help from the president last month.
Lightfoot, a Democrat, said it was Trump's failure to take action on gun reform legislation, which was to blame for the violence.
“We’re doing an all-hands-on-deck strategy, we’re really focussing on the root causes of the violence, but fundamentally we have too many illegal guns on our street, and that is a direct result of a failure of federal leadership,” Lightfoot said Tuesday.
Lightfoot then argued that Democrat presential nominee Joe Biden is what is needed to bring change.
“Which is why we need change in November, and we need the kind of leadership that Joe Biden is going to bring to our country.”
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The Mayor then blamed Trump for soaring murder rates:
“If the president was really committed to helping us deal with our violence, he would do some easy things … He would push to make sure that people who were banned from getting on airplanes can’t get guns."
WATCH:
Chicago’s mayor blames Trump for her city’s soaring murder rate:
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) July 14, 2020
“If the president was really committed to helping us deal with our violence, he would do some easy things … He would push to make sure that people who were banned from getting on airplanes can’t get guns." pic.twitter.com/2S0idD0yQd
President Donald Trump criticized Lightfoot last month saying Chicago had become more dangerous than Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Your lack of leadership on this important issue continues to fail the people you have sworn to protect," Trump wrote.
"I am concerned it is another example of your lack of commitment to the vulnerable citizens who are victims of this violence and a lack of respect for the men and women in law enforcement."
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The President then tried to extend an olive branch.
"If you are willing to put partisanship aside, we can revitalize distressed neighborhoods in Chicago together," Trump said.
But Mayor Lightfoot refused his help, writing:
"I don't need leadership lessons from Donald Trump."
I don’t need leadership lessons from Donald Trump.
— Mayor Lori Lightfoot (@chicagosmayor) June 27, 2020
In June, shootings soared almost 80% compared with last year.
Lightfoot later put it down to "too many guns" on the streets.
424 people were shot and 89 killed compared to the 50 murders in 2019, NBC 5 Chicago reported.
There where more than 60 people shot and 16 killed in the city in just one weekend, under Lightfoot's watch.
One of the victims was a 10-year-old girl, who was shot by a stray bullet while “inside a Logan Square home on the Northwest Side."
