By Dave Dahl
SPRINGFIELD – President Trump’s attacks on U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) have not escaped Gov. JB Pritzker’s notice.
Trump called Cummings’ Baltimore district “rat and rodent-infested” and a place where nobody would want to live. Pritzker says it’s not really about Baltimore. “He was attacking Elijah Cummings,” the governor told reporters in Chicago Monday. “He was attacking a revered and respected African-American congressman (and committee) chairman.”
Pritzker says Trump’s pattern is to attack blacks in power. Pritzker says he knows a thing or two about prejudice, having helped start the Holocaust Museum in Skokie.
Reporters also asked Pritzker about the sense that the U.S. attorney’s office is closing in on Madigan, having raided many of Madigan’s associates’ homes and offices.
“I think we need to see this process play itself out,” Pritzker said, adding all he knows is what has been in the news. “We’ll have to see where this leads to.”
Among other things, we’ve learned that Kevin Quinn — a political aide Madigan dismissed from his organization after sexual harassment allegations surfaced — has been paid by ComEd lobbyists and other Madigan allies.
Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected].
