By John Dempsey, WLS-AM News
(CHICAGO) There has been a big shakeup in the office of Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner. Rauner says four members of his communication team have resigned after an embarrassing incident this week involving a political cartoon.
Earlier this week the Rauner team issued a press release in response to the controversial, racially tinged cartoon on the website of the conservative Illinois Policy Institute.
Among other things, the release said that “as a white male” Rauner could no longer comment on the cartoon, which featured a black child begging a white man for money for schools. Mayor Emanuel and other Democrats blasted the cartoon as racist.
Rauner was reportedly irate about that press statement and later issued another one that said the previous statement “did not accurately reflect my views.”
Thursday morning Rauner’s office sent out an email that read “Diana Rickert, Laurel Patrick, Meghan Keenan and Brittany Carl have submitted their resignations to the Office of the Governor. We are grateful for their hard work on behalf of the people of Illinois and wish them all the best going forward. Elizabeth Tomev is acting communications director.”
Just last month, Rauner hired Rickert, Keenan and Carl away from the conservative Illinois Policy Institute as he fired other staffers in the wake of the legislature’s overhaul of his veto of a bill raising Illinois income taxes. Patrick had worked as a spokeswoman for Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.
@ 2017 WLS-AM News
