Paul Vallas calls out Johnson’s lies walking back calls to defund and undermine police
Mayoral candidate Paul Vallas accuses Brandon Johnson of lying and falsely claiming he “never said Defund the Police.” Only Paul Vallas has a plan to make Chicago safer. Video of commercial addressing Johnson’s actual statements on defunding the police and undermining the fight against crime is included below
Brandon Johnson has carefully avoided discussing his radical political past during the campaign for Mayor, often dodging questions about his public support for defunding the police.
But today he took it a step too far and was caught in a blatant lie. Johnson told ABC 7 that he “never said defund the police,” despite the clear fact that he has openly discussed his support for defunding numerous times.
“There’s nothing Brandon Johnson can do to change the fact that he has publicly embraced the radical “defund the police” movement that would put Chicago at risk of even higher crime,” said Vallas spokesperson Phil Swibinski.
“Brandon Johnson and Paul Vallas’ visions for public safety could not be any more different, and every Chicagoan who is concerned about rising crime should be aware of one thing — Brandon Johnson will defund the police, Paul Vallas will put crime reduction and public safety first.”
Johnson’s support for defunding the police is clear and absolute:
“Brandon Johnson is desperately trying to backtrack away from his support for defunding the police because he knows how politically toxic it is, but he can’t escape his past or his record,” said Vallas spokesman Phil Swibinski.
“Brandon should just come clean and tell the voters why he wants to defund the police, because no one is buying his sad attempts to bury his record and hide his true feelings on the most important issue in this election.”
In July 2020, Johnson was the Chief Sponsor of a Resolution calling for the Cook County Board of Commissioners to “Redirect Funds From Policing and Incarceration to Public Services Not Administered By Law Enforcement.”
In July 2020, Johnson signed onto a statement with other elected officials that stated the officials were ready to “Work To Defund The Chicago Police Department Immediately”
On WCPT Radio 780 in July 2020, Johnson said: “there are some folks who are offended by this idea of defunding the police. There are folks who are afraid of that terminology…we’re shipping money away from police and incarceration. What do people not understand about this demand? (Sunday Mornings, WCPT 780, 7/26/20, 38:10)
On WCPT Radio 780 in December 2020, Johnson said that he viewed Defund the Police “not as a slogan, but as a real political goal” and that it was “not just an admirable effort, but a necessary one.” (Santita Jackson Show, WCPT 780, 12/4/20, 16:50 and 59:18)
Click here to video the video on Twitter.
Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.
Email Ray Hanania at rghanania@gmail.com.
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