Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) fired back at White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Thursday after the latter took aim at Lightfoot’s job performance.
Lightfoot, tweeting an image of a transcript of McEnany’s remarks earlier in the day referring to her as the “derelict” mayor of Chicago, referred to McEnany as “Karen,” a mocking name used for white women seen in viral videos harassing or calling the police on Black people.
“Hey, Karen. Watch your mouth,” Lightfoot tweeted.
Lightfoot’s response comes as the Trump administration has hammered Chicago’s leadership for months over gun violence in the city, which President Trump and his allies frequently blame on Democratic leadership of the city.
A tracker operated by the Chicago Tribune reports that 1,901 people have been injured or killed in shootings so far this year, 550 more than had occurred at the same point in 2019.
In an interview with MSNBC earlier this week, Lightfoot pinned blame for the violence on Trump, pointing to “too many illegal guns on our street,” which she said was the “direct result of a failure of federal leadership.”
“Which is why we need change in November and we need the kind of leadership that Joe Biden is going to bring to our country,” the mayor added in the Tuesday interview, referring to the presumptive Democratic nominee for president.