Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot says her recent attendance at a street party celebrating presumptive President-elect Joseph R. Biden’s victory doesn’t make her guilty of coronavirus hypocrisy because the event brought “relief” to so many people.
The Democrat’s comments come less than 24 hours after she announced a stay-at-home advisory for the Windy City starting Monday.
This is a great day for our city and our country. We are taking our democracy back. #BidenHarris2020 pic.twitter.com/OAZQPd1r4y
— Lori Lightfoot (@LoriLightfoot) November 8, 2020
Citizens are urged to “stop having guests over — including family members you do not live with” and to “cancel traditional Thanksgiving plans” to “bend the curve” of new COVID-19 cases.
“What do you say to those who are criticizing you where less than a week ago, you went out and stood before a massive crowd who was celebrating Joe Biden’s victory, and now you’re saying your city has to shut down? How do you have one and not the other?” MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle asked the mayor Friday morning.
“I will tell you, in that big crowd a week ago, we had — everybody was wearing masks,” Ms. Lightfoot replied. “Mask compliance in our city is actually up very, very high. But yes, there are times when we actually do need to have a relief and come together. And I felt like that was one of those times. That crowd was gathered whether I was there or not. But this has been a super hard year on everyone.”
Ms. Lightfoot told constituents that Chicago is expected to have 1,000 new coronavirus-related deaths by the end of the year.
The city is also experiencing roughly 1,900 new cases per day.
.@chicagosmayor Lightfoot defends celebrating Biden’s Election Day in the streets despite her own rules against mass gatherings: “That crowd was gathered whether I was there or not.” pic.twitter.com/MR81LnHfa7
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) November 13, 2020
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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