Chicago mayor invokes race after reporter asks him about London trip and Bears game

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson clapped back at a reporter Tuesday who asked about his trip to London and the Chicago Bears football game being played there.

Sunday's contest will be the third NFL game played abroad this season. It is the Bears’ third international game since the league began playing overseas in 2007. London’s Tottenham Hotspur stadium will host the game while Johnson is visiting the city.

ABC Chicago’s Sarah Schulte asked whether the mayor was attending the football game, and Johnson launched into a racial tirade.

“Sir, is this a good week to go to London for a Bears game, and also, who’s going to pay for that trip?" Schulte asked.

"Alright, I’m going to London to attract business to Chicago, OK?" Johnson retorted. "I’m going to London to attract business in Chicago."

"But are you going to the game?" Schulte asked.

"Hold on a second, 'cause you already know the answer to that, but I just want to make sure that you do the people of Chicago service," Johnson said. "Because I have to be very honest with you, it’s pretty jacked up the way you framed that. It is. It is. It’s disrespectful and condescending that the black man is going to London for a game. And people get away with that too much."

In a press release , the mayor's office explained that Johnson has scheduled "high-level meetings, industry-specific roundtables, and keynotes" at various locations, including a Chicago-themed bar. At some point, a London-based company will announce a new headquarters in Chicago. "Choose Chicago," the city's official tourism arm is also involved in the trip.

"The governor went to the governor went to Tokyo to attract business," Johnson concluded. "The mayor of Chicago is going to London to attract business, and while I’m there, I’m going to root for the Chicago Bears."

According to the press release, "Choose Chicago had been preparing for months to leverage the Bears' international game on NFL Network as a prime opportunity to recruit more UK travelers and showcase the city's tourism and hospitality sectors to global clients and UK-based media, and influencers. ... Mayor Johnson will be joining some of these events to help promote Chicago on this global stage."

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The Washington Examiner reached ABC Chicago for comment.

London is Chicago's fourth-largest trade partner, with some 250 U.K. companies based there. In 2023, the two cities traded more than $7.68 billion.