* If you watched the Bears game yesterday, you may have seen that “Scream” ad put out by Dan Proft’s PAC. Click here if you missed it or didn’t see it posted on the blog last week. Gov. Pritzker was asked today about his thoughts on the ad…
Pritzker: Look, it’s terrible. It’s a terrible commercial. They’ve chosen a particular crime in which there was a white woman who is the victim and apparently Black perpetrators. That’s the ad they want people to see, particularly in the suburbs. That’s part of the entire racial tinge of everything that’s being put out by that PAC.
And let’s also take note, at least this morning, I think I read that the victim may not have approved of any of this and probably should have been consulted about her crime being put all over television, the crime that was perpetrated against her. I think it’s disgusting and I’ve said that before.
…You want to talk about crime? Let’s talk about crime. Darren Bailey sanctions these kinds of ads, thinks they’re okay, has accepted the support of that PAC. And Darren Bailey is the one who voted to defund police, literally voted against budgets that would fund State Police for Illinois, the increase in state police that we need, voted against providing new crime labs so we can solve crimes faster. Those crime labs are the ones that have eliminated the rape kit backlog in our state. Darren Bailey voted against all of the things that would reduce crime, preventing violent crime. So, you know, he talks out of one side of his mouth, and then he’s okay accepting support from people who were putting forward racially charged ads that are attacks about crime, that, frankly, he’s responsible more than many others for.
Q: Are you saying the commercial is racist?
Pritzker: I’m saying that the intent of the people who put it out, look at all the things that they’re involved in, clearly has a racial tinge to it.
This was an independent expenditure, so Darren Bailey is not supposed to play a role in the ad. The governor seems to be more than just suggesting otherwise, but hasn’t offered up proof.
* I told subscribers about this earlier today, but here’s Dan Proft’s response when I asked if he’d obtained permission to use the footage from either CWBChicago or from the victim featured in the ad…
Chicagoland news stations broadcast the same video. CWBChicago put it up on its site. That’s where we obtained it. It is public domain material just as is anything else posted by any media outlet so long as it is not being used by a third party for commercial purposes, which this isn’t.
Attribution is not synonymous with endorsement. This is well-established. You see proper attribution to media outlets as the source of material all the time in political ads. In fact, people get criticized when they air content that makes claims that doesn’t have attribution.
All PBR PAC did was air video aired by news stations across Chicagoland and connect the dots to the responsible parties for the unchecked violence in Chicago, and soon via the SAFE-T Act, the rest of Illinois.
It’s holding pols responsible for the violence and mayhem they induce through their anti-police, anti-prosecution policies that has their friends in the media doing their performative pearl-clutching. Period.
* From the Pritzker campaign…
Illinoisans of all backgrounds can agree that exploiting an act of violence without permission from, or any compassion for, the victim is reprehensible. Darren Bailey should call on Dan Proft to stop running these ads and he should demand that his largest donor, Dick Uihlein, stop funding them. Their complete lack of empathy is shameful and our state deserves better.
I’ve asked the Bailey campaign for comment and will post it if I receive one.
…Adding… Bailey campaign…
Rich, JB doesn’t want to face the fact that he is keeping Illinoisans less safe. That’s why he doesn’t like the AD on the air. Does he have a response to this [person] being robbed in the middle of the day at 11AM.
Video is here.
