Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson trolled for blaming Richard Nixon after over 100 people were shot in city

ILLINOIS, CHICAGO: During a press conference addressing Chicago’s rampant gun violence, Chicago’s progressive Mayor Brandon Johnson blamed the city’s crime surge on former President Richard Nixon, who resigned from office in 1974 and died in 1994.

Johnson made these remarks following a particularly violent holiday weekend that saw 19 fatalities and over 100 injuries from shootings.

Chicago Mayor vows consequences and seeks Federal funds to combat Chicago violence

Reportedly, over a hundred people were shot, 19 fatally, during a violent holiday weekend in Chicago. The city's mayor vowed to punish those responsible, emphasizing that there "will be consequences" for the gunmen.

The violence, which started on the Fourth of July and included the deaths of several children, shocked the city, which had seen a decline in homicides and nonfatal shootings compared to the previous year. Highlighting the incident, the mayor said at the conference “Black death has been unfortunately been accepted in this country for a very long time."

“We had a chance 60 years ago to get at the root causes. And people mocked President Johnson, and we ended up with Richard Nixon,” he added, without providing further explanation.

As per The New York Post, Mayor Brandon Johnson announced his administration's request for federal funds to address the root causes of violence in Chicago. He also insisted on punishment for those who choose to kill, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The Richard Nixon Foundation responded with a post defending the 37th president against Mayor Johnson’s baseless accusation.

“Mayor Johnson’s reference to President Nixon is gratuitous and the facts are not on his side in his characterization of Richard Nixon and the Nixon administration’s civil rights record,” the foundation posted on X in a thread outlining some of the administration’s achievements.

Internet slams Mayor Brandon Johnson for blaming crime surge on Richard Nixon

Johnson’s perplexing attempt to shift blame rapidly went viral on social media with several viewers slamming him for his strange comments. 

A post on X featuring a clip of the mayor blaming Chicago’s issues on "Tricky Dick" garnered over 2.6 million views within 24 hours. It sparked thousands of comments mocking his assertion. 

One viewer said, "Hey Chicago, stop electing d*mba*ses into office."

Another viewer said, "Did you know Nixon was the most popular president in American history?"

One viewer noted, "Nixon did not one single thing to change the course of Johnson’s GREAT SOCIETY. Nixon was socially liberal, but he HATED communism (see: Hiss and Chambers) and that’s why he was so vilified by the Left. LBJ and race hustlers are the reason the black community is in such turmoil today."

A follower observed, "Huh…? How did this brainiac get elected?"

One comment read, "Blame Whitey for feral crime lol."

Another comment read, "The amount of gaslighting."

"I don't think Tricky Dick was out there blasting on the South Side...," explained one person.

This article contains remarks made on the internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.