The Kankakee County Democrats posted — and since deleted — an image to Facebook that compared President Donald Trump’s signature “Make America Great Again” hats to hoods worn by members of the Ku Klux Klan.
The image, first obtained by Crain’s Chicago Business, shows a Klansmen in a red hood emblazoned with the words: “Make America Hate Again.” Superimposed on the image is: “What’s the difference between a Klan hood and a MAGA hat? The Klan hood was made in America.”
The image was also tweeted by ABC-7 reporter Craig Wall.
Kankakee County Democrats facing heat over this now deleted Facebook post. @ABC7Chicago pic.twitter.com/Y7gHuem7rw
— Craig Wall ABC 7 (@craigrwall) July 22, 2019
A representative from the Illinois Democratic County Chairs’ Association did not respond to a request for comment Monday night.
Speaking with Crain’s, Kankakee Democratic Chairman John Willard said: “For me, it’s all about the hypocrisy of this president. He says he’s going to make America great, and then did what he did to these four congresswomen … If he’s going to really make America great, don’t make your stuff overseas.”
On Twitter, Gov. J.B. Pritzker blasted Willard, saying he “is wrong and lacks the civility our politics should demand.” In the tweet, Pritzker also misspelled “Kankakee,” omitting one of the three “K’s” in the county’s name.
For nearly two years, Pritzker, though, has called Trump a “racist” and “xenophobic.” He did so as recently as last month.
Willard said he posted the image but deleted it July 19 — the same day that the Republican County Chairmen’s Association of Illinois shared a bogus movie poster on its Facebook page that depicted four Democratic congresswomen of color as “The Jihad Squad.”
Under photos of Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota is the line “political jihad is their game,” followed by “if you don’t agree with their Socialist ideology, you’re racist.”
