Morning Spin: Trump will visit Illinois steel plant today
Gov. Bruce Rauner won’t be on hand, noting this week that he appeared in Granite City a week ago to veto legislation that would have required the city's mayor be named to a local flood-control agency. The governor appeared with Vice President Mike Pence this month, embracing the White House despite spending much of his term avoiding saying Trump’s name.
Democratic challenger J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday needled Rauner over his decision to avoid Trump during his visit, saying “this governor seems to want to play both sides of the issue.”
But Trump will be joined by U.S. Rep. Mike Bost, a Murphysboro Republican who is locked in a competitive re-election bid against Democrat Brendan Kelly, the St. Clair County state’s attorney.
“Looking forward to joining @POTUS in Granite City to celebrate return of 800 steel jobs,” Bost tweeted. “Pres. (Ronald) Reagan came to our neck of the woods 30 years ago & we’re still talking about it in S. Illinois. Have a feeling folks heading back to work will talk about this visit 30 years from now.”
In a statement about Trump’s visit, Kelly doesn’t criticize the president by name. After all, Trump won many southern Illinois counties that comprise the 12th Congressional District where Kelly is taking on Bost.
“Our country is deeply divided right now, but we should all agree it’s a good thing to see steelworkers in Granite City getting back to work,” Kelly said in a statement. “It’s right to confront China’s cheating on steel, but disconnected trade policies like Fast Track that Mike Bost supports have done a lot of damage in Southern Illinois.”
Trump, meanwhile, appeared with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker at the White House on Wednesday, when the president said “we also will resolve the steel and aluminum tariff issues, and we will resolve retaliatory tariffs.” (Monique Garcia)
What’s on tap
*Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s schedule wasn’t available.
*Gov. Bruce Rauner will tour businesses in Itasca and Machesney Park, and he’ll act on tax credit legislation in Peoria.
*Republican U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam and Democratic challenger Sean Casten will debate on Fox 32 at 10 p.m. It will be streamed live on the station’s website and Facebook page at 6 p.m.
From the notebook
*Election security: Illinois’ entire U.S. House delegation has asked federal officials for a briefing about election security, given that the state was a “major target” of Russian hackers in the 2016 election. Read more here.
*Emanuel doesn’t engage on Wilson: Mayor Emanuel pointedly declined Wednesday to weigh in on mayoral challenger Willie Wilson’s weekend event where he passed out thousands of dollars in cash to people at a South Side church.
Asked about the Sunday event at the New Covenant Missionary Baptist Church where the Wilson campaign said he handed out nearly $40,000 in personal cash to help people with various expenses, Emanuel first made a joke: “(My wife) Amy says ‘Why don’t you do that at home here?’”
But then he stepped away from the controversy: “You don’t need me to comment on something because a picture’s worth a thousand words, it speaks for itself.”
On Wednesday, Ald. Ed Burke, 14th, introduced a resolution at the City Council meeting, calling on the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office and the U.S. attorney to investigate whether the money giveaway violated campaign finance laws that prohibit purchasing votes. The resolution notes repeatedly that Gov. Rauner was with Wilson at the event and that the governor contributed money to a fund Wilson set up to help people pay their property taxes.
Rauner on Monday said he gave Wilson, a friend of his, $100,000 last year and an additional $100,000 "in the last month or two" to help struggling families pay their property taxes but did not approve of Wilson handing out cash at the church. Democratic challenger J.B. Pritzker said on Wednesday that Rauner is “obviously aligning himself with people that are handing money out at churches.” (John Byrne, Monique Garcia)
*Da fundraiser: Legendary former Bears head coach Mike Ditka is headlining a fundraiser for a Republican state House candidate in Chicago’s northwest suburbs.
Ditka is helping Jillian Rose Bernas at an Aug. 9 fundraiser, according to an email alert from the Chicago Young Republicans. She’s running against Democratic state Rep. Michelle Mussman of Schaumburg.
Bernas is a Schaumburg Township District Library Trustee and previously worked at the U.S. embassy in Chile, according to her campaign website.
Ditka considered entering the political fray as a Republican U.S. Senate candidate in the 2004 campaign, but ultimately did not.
*Puerto Rico trip: Democratic U.S. Reps. Luis Gutierrez of Chicago and Robin Kelly of Matteson will be in a delegation to Puerto Rico led by House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi. The trip starts Thursday.
Source:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-met-donald-trump-illinois-granite-city-20180725-story.html
