The Richard Nixon Foundation and Many Conservatives Social mediaChicago’s Democratic mayors are fighting back against Mayor Brandon Johnson after he appeared to place some of the blame for the weekend shootings in his city on former President Richard Nixon, who died 30 years ago.
“What we experienced over the weekend is unacceptable and we didn’t get to this point overnight. Everybody knows that. I’m going to tell you the full story of what happened,” Johnson said at a news conference on Monday. 19 people died More than 100 people were injured in a shooting in Chicago over the weekend.
“Unfortunately, black deaths have been accepted in this country for a long time. We had a chance 60 years ago to get to the root causes, and people mocked President Johnson and we ended up with President Richard Nixon.”
Jim Byron, president and CEO of the Richard Nixon Foundation, denied the mayor’s allegations in a statement to Fox News Digital.
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Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson faced strong backlash after he invoked President Nixon while talking about gun violence during a violent Fourth of July weekend. (Getty Images)
“Richard Nixon was a champion of civil rights both as vice president and as president,” Byron said of Nixon, who died in 1994. “The record is clear.”
“Unfortunately, there are many misconceptions about Richard Nixon, but there is renewed interest in studying and understanding his life and accomplishments in their entirety, and perceptions from several years ago are being reconsidered. As of now, Correcting the Record is approaching 1 million views on X alone.”
Byron continued, “What’s happening in Chicago is heartbreaking, and I believe the people of Chicago want leaders who will take responsibility and work together to solve the problems rather than engaging in this ridiculous and unjustified blame game.”
Byron was referring to a social media post the foundation made on Monday in response to a video of Johnson’s remarks posted by conservative digital strategist Greg Price.
“Mayor Johnson’s references to President Nixon are unnecessary and his portrayal of Richard Nixon and the Nixon Administration’s civil rights record is not based on fact,” the Nixon Foundation said. Posted in X.
The thread went on to point out various steps the Nixon administration took to promote civil rights, including school desegregation, the Civil Rights Fund, an executive order “requiring federal agencies to apply equal opportunity policies to all aspects of federal personnel policies and practices,” and support for black-owned businesses.
“Long before he became the first black president, Nixon built a strong civil rights legacy.” Blog Post Please read from the basics.
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Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson told reporters. (WFLD)
Johnson’s comments also drew strong criticism from conservatives on social media.
“There were 109 shootings in Chicago last weekend, so of course the mayor is blaming Richard Nixon,” comedian Tim Young said. Post to X“This can’t be fiction.”
“Chicago’s last Republican mayor was elected in 1915,” says conservative commentator Stephen L. Miller. Post to X. “Nixon was two years old.”
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President Richard Nixon gave a victory speech at a rally shortly after being overwhelmingly elected to a second term on November 7, 1972.
“We went from ‘cut the police budget’ to ‘no bail’ to ‘it’s Richard Nixon’s fault,’ in a blink of an eye,” said conservative commentator David Burge. Posted in X.
Fox News Digital reached out to Mayor Johnson’s office for comment but did not receive a response.
Fox News Digital’s Matteo China contributed to this report.
