News/Commentary

Chicago reporter gives Mayor Lori Lightfoot a smoking sendoff: ‘Get the hell out of my city!’

March 17, 2023 | | Print Article

Chicago reporter William Kelly pummeled lame-duck Mayor Lori Lightfoot into the ground during a city council meeting on Wednesday, excoriating her for ruining the Windy City and telling her in no uncertain terms to pack her bags and “get the hell out of my city.”

(Video Credit: Forbes Breaking News)

Kelly has been a frequent and ardent critic of Lightfoot during her tenure as mayor. He went scorched earth on her botched and disastrous leadership during a public comments portion of the meeting, including her handling of the pandemic.

“You shut down our schools, you shut down the churches, you shut down the businesses,” Kelly raged at the leftist politician as seen in the video.

“You did the one thing that I thought could never happen,” he claimed. “As someone who was born and raised on the south side of Chicago, I never thought in my life that I would ever see the city of Chicago brought down so low as you have managed to bring it down.”

“Shame on you,” Kelly admonished her. “That is a legacy that you are going to have to carry.”

“I hope that, after today’s city council meeting, you will pack your suitcase and get the hell out of my city!” he exclaimed, giving Lightfoot a fiery sendoff, basically telling the world good riddance as the mayor leaves office.

“I used to be sitting over there with my colleagues, but I’m standing over here,” the enraged journalist said pointing toward the press pool. “You told me that crime was down, my videos went viral, amassed millions of likes and shares, and it was hurting your re-election campaign, so you revoked my media credential.”

Kelly sat down with “Fox & Friends” on Thursday, telling host Steve Doocy that the meeting was his chance to speak out on behalf of the citizens of Chicago.

The irate journalist dressed down Lightfoot for rescinding his press credentials and accused her of doing so in retaliation for his criticism of her leadership.

“Even if she didn’t pull my press credentials, I still would not have had the opportunity to ask her a question or speak for the people of Chicago after the city council meeting because Mayor Lightfoot canceled her post-city council meeting press conference,” he remarked.

“I applied for the public comments section right before the meeting. It’s a lottery. It’s limited to five people to speak for three minutes, and the luck of the Irish – St. Patrick’s Day – I was one of the five,” Kelly commented.

(Video Credit: Fox News)

“I feel like this is more like a victim impact statement than an actual public comment,” Kelly noted. “What you’ve done to me is nothing compared to what you’ve done to my city, the city of Chicago, the city that I was born and raised in, the city that I love with all my heart.”

Lightfoot responded in the video but you can’t hear it. However, it did prompt Kelly to tell her “you are a pandemic” before he walked off.

The outspoken journalist is not done with the mayor and is now writing a book on the disastrous lack of leadership by Lightfoot.

Kelly runs a TV production and event company called RevDigital. He has thankfully been a thorn in the side of Lightfoot for years. Last year, he sued the mayor and the city, according to Fox News.

Lightfoot, who is now 60, was elected in 2019 but lost her re-election bid last month. She is the first sitting mayor in Chicago to lose reelection in 40 years.

Crime is raging in Chicago at historic highs. The homicide rate in the city has spiked by 40% since she took office. The 800 murders in Chicago that occurred in 2021 were the highest in 25 years.

Lightfoot has also been at odds with the press in Chicago saying that she would only speak with reporters who are black or brown at one point. She has also limited Freedom of Information access to public records.

When she lost her reelection bid, Lightfoot immediately blamed racism and gender bias. She also got into it with powerful city teachers and police unions, according to the New York Post.

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