Matthew Kaplan Photography

Trump Rally in Chicago's Mount Greenwood Neighborhood - 11/1/20

A spirited rally to re-elect the president was held Sunday afternoon at a country music bar in the far Southside Mount Greenwood community, the only Chicago neighborhood to vote for Donald Trump in 2016. Cheering supporters of the president waved signs and flags at vehicles passing by on 111th Street. Many of the drivers honked and waved back in enthusiastic  reply.

Highlighting the afternoon was an appearance by a well known Illinois Democrat, ex-governor and former federal inmate Rod Blagojavich, who's 14 year sentence for corruption was commuted by President Trump in February. Mr. Blagojovich gave a full throated endorsement of the President, and referring to his conviction by federal prosecutors, claimed that he, Blagojavich, had "not broken a single f**king law! It was all politics!"

Much of the outrage from speakers on the stage was aimed at current Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker (also a Democrat) and his pandemic shutdown policies. Local GOP politicians decried their effect on bars, restaurants and other small businesses. "We live in a state run by a tyrant!" one speaker cried out. Only a minority of folks at the outdoor rally were wearing facemasks. and one of the speakers assured the crowd, "If you want to wear a mask that's your choice. If you don't want to wear a mask, it's your choice too. That's what America is about, liberty!"

Other speakers at the rally included GOP candidate for US Senate, Mark Curran; Fraternal Order of Police president John Catanzara (who is still upset with Mayor Lori Lightfoot for removing the city's statues of Christopher Columbus); and Republican candidate for the US House, Philanise White.