The mayor of the sanctuary city of Chicago, Brandon Johnson, is at the helm of a crisis faced by communities throughout the country brought on by Joe Biden’s broken border.
While the city hemorrhages cash, Johnson has signaled that the city is at a breaking point due to the influx of illegal aliens in the city.
In a recent appearance on CNN, Johnson was reduced to begging Biden for help, “We have reached a critical point in this mission that absent real, significant intervention immediately, our local economies are not designed and built to respond to this type of crisis.”
Democrat Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson says “it’s the entire country that is now at stake” if Congress doesn’t pass a “pathway to citizenship” for the millions of illegal immigrants pouring across the open southern border pic.twitter.com/v12GGsFkl3
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) December 27, 2023
But when pressed about how Chicago will pay for Biden’s failures and if taxes will be raised on Chicagoans to pay for the crisis, Johnson refused to answer the question despite being asked about three times during an interview with CBS 2’s Sabrina Franza on Thursday.
CBS Chicago investigators uncovered records showing Chicago has paid out at least $138 million from October 2022 to the present to address the needs of illegals, and $95 million in Covid relief funds have been shifted to cover housing.
In discussing what has already been spent and the clear need for additional funding, Franza asked, “Will you be adding a tax to help pay for this?”
Johnson gave a non-answer, “Well, I think people are clearly familiar with what my vision is for revenue in this city, and my revenue, of course, is committed to making sure that we are doing everything we can to address the unhoused crisis in this city. 70,000 people who are unhoused in this city are black families, and that’s why I invested a quarter of a billion dollars in my budget to do just that.”
The response seemed to confuse Franza, and she asked the question again, “Will you add a tax to help pay for the migrant crisis?”
A seemingly frustrated Johnson answered, “Here’s what I’ve said repeatedly. This is an international crisis that requires…”
Franza interrupted, “We’ve heard you say that.”
“Okay, then you know the answer then,” Johnson said peevishly while still not answering Franza’s question.
Franza continued, “Well, no – the question I asked is, ‘Are you adding a tax?’”
“The answer is, the federal government has to do its job,” Johnson answered, to which Franza pressed Johnson again, “What if they don’t?”
Johnson then went on a meandering discussion of Ukraine rather than addressing the direct question…will Chicago taxpayers have to pay for Biden’s failures and Chicago’s embrace of sanctuary city status?
Franza responded, “Right, but that is not the question that the people of Chicago are asking. The people of Chicago want to know, will you raise a tax, whether it be property tax or implement something else.”
‘Well, it is interesting,” Johnson said before again not answering the direct question. “No one has ever asked me if I’m going to raise a tax.”
As it was clear Johnson would not answer the question, Franza moved on to other topics.
Watch: