Lori Lightfoot claps back after Trump calls her one of America's worst mayors
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Justin and former Mayor Lori Lightfoot May 8 at the Hideout. Photo: Carrie Shepherd/Axios
President Trump is returning to one of his favorite punching bags: former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. And she's not taking it sitting down.
The big picture: In Trump's recent attacks on Harvard University, he has singled out the school's hiring of Lightfoot and former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio as reasons why the university should lose federal funding.
- He lambasted Lightfoot on social media, calling her a "Radical Left fool" and "evil."
What he said: "Certainly two of the worst mayors in the history of our country," Trump said at a recent cabinet meeting.
Yes, but: Lightfoot has heard it before.
- "No credible university in the universe would allow Donald Trump to teach a dog to sit. So consider the source, but he continues on his rants," Lightfoot said on stage at the Axios Office Hours event Thursday night.
Context: After her one term as mayor, Lightfoot taught a brief course on government for the Harvard Institute of Politics, where politicians from both political parties are often guest fellows and lecturers.
Flashback: During the president's first term, Trump and Lightfoot sparred dramatically over everything from violence, immigration and the city's pandemic response. The battle, mostly on social media, made Lightfoot a national star for Democratic opposition.
- Her famous 2020 tweet told Trump to "keep 'Chicago' out of your lying mouth."
The intrigue: It's not just Lightfoot who is defending herself. The Chicago Tribune wrote an editorial pushing back on the president's assertion that Lightfoot was a terrible mayor, while one of her City Council members also came to her aid.
- "I don't see that," Ald. Walter Burnett, the most senior alder in the council, tells Axios. "I don't know what happened with all of the other mayors before, but all of the mayors I've worked with have been good."
Between the lines: Lightfoot lost her bid for reelection in 2023 after squabbles with police, teachers and fellow elected officials, but she doesn't have a terrible reputation today.
The bottom line: Trump seems to enjoy bringing up old beefs, even though Chicago is over it.