Kankakee County Democrats are keeping mum after Gov. J.B. Pritzker condemned a social media post comparing the red MAGA (Make America Great Again) hat worn by many supporters of President Donald Trump to a pointed Ku Klux Klan hat.
According to Capitol Fax, Democrats in Kankakee County pulled the offensive post from Facebook, which apparently retaliated against a Republican post calling four Democrat congresswomen “the Jihad Squad.” Kankakee County Democratic Chairman John Willard refused to apologize for originally posting the item, according to the Kankakee Daily Journal, and deleted it on July 19.
“The recent post by the Kankakee County Democratic Chairman is wrong and lacks the civility our politics should demand,” Pritzker Tweeted on July 22.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker
The backlash came after conservative radio talk-show host Dan Proft, owner of LGIS, parent of the Prairie State Wire, retweeted the offensive Facebook post, asking whether Chicago media would ask if Gov. Pritzker, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, Sen. Dick Durbin, Rep. Sean Casten and others would stand behind the comparison.
“Comparing President Trump and his supporters to a white supremacist hate group that systemically engaged in terror and murder is absurd,” said Kankakee County Republican Chairman Jeff Keast was quoted as saying in Capitol Fax.
The Midwest Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said via Twitter that both offensive posts represent “the worst in political rhetoric” and hailed their removal. “We expect better from our political leaders,” ADL added.
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