White House punches back at Chicago Mayor Johnson over reparations demands

The White House punched back at Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson Wednesday after the progressive mayor claimed President Donald Trump neglected compensation for descendants of formerly enslaved Black Americans while favoring the wealthy.

Johnson appeared on the "Native Land Pod" podcast Sunday to discuss his administration's crime reduction efforts in Chicago, where violent crime rates have fallen sharply, according to the Johnson administration and Chicago Police Department data.

Speaking with hosts Angela Rye, Bakari Sellers and Andrew Gillum, Johnson argued that public safety "has to be something more than just policing," highlighting city investments in "mental behavioral healthcare, promoting detectives and expanding and investing in CVI (community violence intervention)."

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The podcast hosts turned to a recent Truth Social post by Trump targeting Illinois leadership over crime.

"Chicago is suffering an unprecedented and particularly violent crime wave that is getting worse by the day," Trump posted on Oct. 6. "The Federal Government can extinguish it quickly and completely, but the Mayor of Chicago, or the Governor of Illinois, must ask for our help. What is wrong with them? Why arent they asking? TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE! President DJT."

Johnson pushed back against the presidents statement, alleging Trump enriched wealthy Americans while ignoring the demands of "descendants of the formerly enslaved."

"He's so sorry. It's real pathetic, right, because it's so disingenuous. … This is the president who just released the largest upward transfer of wealth into the hands of the ultrarich at the expense of the demands of those of us who are descendants of the formerly enslaved," Johnson said.

"The largest upward transfer of wealth at the expense of education, housing, health care, transportation, good-paying jobs, which literally were all the demands of the formerly enslaved."

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Johnson also said Trump "cut [the] violence prevention budget by $800 million," slamming the president for being concerned "about the wrong borders" as illegal weapons pour into Chicago.

"He cut the ATF budget by 30%. My local police department has worked in tandem with the AFT to get illegal weapons off the streets of Chicago. This year alone, we have removed almost 9,000 illegal weapons off the street."

The White House dismissed Johnson's claims and called on the mayor to focus on local public safety.

"Government programs that dole out money based on race are illegal," a White House spokesperson told Fox News Digital Wednesday. "Chicago would be better served if Mayor Johnson focused more on lowering his citys homicide rate instead of advocating for divisive, unconstitutional government action." 

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