Illinois Republican gubernatorial candidate and Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin now admits he attended Black Lives Matter (BLM) rallies and offered public support for the group.
But he says he only did so to prevent BLM members from burning and looting his city.
Radio talk show host and longtime Chicago journalist Amy Jacobson reported Monday that Irvin made the comments to her at a weekend GOP fundraiser.
“Somebody..went up to him and asked him about BLM. You know, 'why are you supporting BLM?,' Jacobson said. “(Irvin) said he supported BLM publicly to save the city from more looting.“
Jacobson said she felt the comment was untruthful.
“(Aurora) had already started burning down to the point where he had called for the National Guard to come in,” she said. “It’s a bunch of lies.”
Co-host of Chicago’s Morning Answer on AM-560, Jacobson said she saw Irvin at a fundraiser hosted by Chicago’s “Common Sense Conservatives” Friday on the city’s Northwest Side.
Jacobson said she had questions for the first time Republican candidate, but he avoided her.
“Richard Irvin walked in, I waited for two minutes and walked up to him. No idea about the show. I don't think he knows (AM 560) exists,” she said. “He kept avoiding me. I'd go from room to room trying to talk to him.”
Jacobson said Irvin, who has served in office as a Democrat and ran for re-election as one last year, looked “uncomfortable in his own skin.”
Irvin’s comments come as he faces public criticism for supporting Black Lives Matter, even after the group rioted and looted in his city of Aurora.
The destruction was bad enough Irvin asked Gov. J.B. Pritzker to bring in the National Guard.
"I support Black Lives Matter strongly and passionately," Irvin is said last year, in a candidate questionnaire.
Conservatives have slammed Irvin for running as a Republican, given his history of Democrat politics.
Rival candidate and State Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) says he would be no better than Pritzker.
"I suspect career Democrat Richard Irvin will be very popular among the establishment and weak-kneed Republicans who voted with Madigan and Pritzker to raise your taxes," Bailey said when Irvin announced his entrance into the race.
Irvin, Bailey, Gary Rabine of Bull Valley, Paul Schimpf of Waterloo and Jesse Sullivan of Petersburg are all running in the June 28 GOP primary.
Alerts Sign-up