CHICAGO – Monday, President Donald Trump will be addressing the International Association of Chiefs of Police at McCormick Place and raising campaign funds at Trump Tower.
Trump spoke to police chiefs in Orlando Florida at their 2018 convention – but Chicago's own Chief of Police Eddie Johnson says he will not welcome the president because he does not hold Chicago's values.
"As police officers, our job is to be the voice or the voiceless and ambassadors to the communities that we serve," he said. "I can't in good conscience stand by while racial insults and hatred are cast from the Oval Office, or Chicago is held hostage because of our views on New Americans."
Johnson's spokesman Anthony Guglielmi also said that "The values of the people of Chicago are more important to [Johnson] than anything that could be discussed at that speech."
After speaking with the police chiefs, a fundraising event will be held that benefits the Trump Victory Committee, a joint effort of Trump's re-election campaign and the Republican National Committee. The fundraiser will be hosted by Todd Ricketts, the committee's finance chair and Chicago Cubs co-owner; Ronna McDaniel, the committee's chair; Tommy Hicks Jr., her co-chair; and Brad Parscale, campaign manager for the 2020 Trump campaign.
Illinois' GOP National Committeewoman Demetra DeMonte – an ardent Trump supporter – told Illinois Review over the weekend that she would be attending the fundraiser for President Trump Monday. DeMonte, who serves on the Republican National Committee's Executive Committee, says she's fully engaged in seeing the president re-elected in 2020.
(More to come on Trump's visit later today on Illinois Review.)