Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson abruptly ended a meeting this week with one of his city's most prominent newspapers after refusing to go on the record.
The Chicago Sun-Times published a blistering report Tuesday about the Democrat's icy relationship with the City Hall press corps, insisting any "honeymoon" he may have had with the media since taking office last year is over.
"The City Hall press corps has turned hostile, openly frustrated with a mayor who is seldom accessible and evasive when he does take questions," the Sun-Times reported. "Newspaper editorials are critical and, at times, disdainful while portraying Johnson as in over his head."
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The Sun-Times then revealed that Johnson backed out of a scheduled meeting with the paper's editorial board, which was supposed to be "an apparent effort to turn things around" with his relations to the press.
"But Monday’s meeting ended abruptly — after Johnson and board members had introduced themselves — when press secretary Ronnie Reese insisted the entire session be off the record. Editorial Page editor Lorraine Forte refused to accept those unprecedented terms. Johnson allowed Reese to make the argument for him and never said a word before signing off from the Zoom session," the Sun-Times reported.
Forte told Fox News Digital that on-the-record meetings with the editorial board are the "default mode."
"We look forward to rescheduling with Mayor Johnson soon, and discussing his plans for Chicago on the record," Forte said.
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The Sun-Times' report cited a "bizarre news conference" Johnson held last week when he was bombarded with questions about his plans to end the city's ShotSpotter contract and his refusal to commit $70 million to address the city's migrant crisis. The paper said he dodged yes-or-no questions and offered non-answers.
"It may be a 'yes' or 'no' question for you. But I will respectfully ask that you ask your question and allow me to answer the question in the way in which I want to. I don’t dictate the question. So please don’t dictate how I answer a question," Johnson said at the news conference.
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Going into the Johnson administration, the Sun-Times suggested relations between the Chicago mayor and the press "had nowhere to go but up" following the ousting of Lori Lightfoot, who "engaged in verbal combat with the City Hall press corps, threatened to go around them and made national headlines by confining her midterm interviews to reporters of color."
"In contrast, the likable Johnson seemed like a candidate for Mr. Congeniality. But Johnson appears to have quickly exhausted the bank of goodwill," the Sun-Times wrote. "Johnson goes weeks at a time without making himself available for reporters' questions. When he finally does, his answers sound more like campaign rhetoric. It’s clearly time for a course correction."
Mayor Johnson's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
