Greg Bishop, associate editor for The Center Square covering Illinois’ government, called into The Michael Patrick Leahy Show on Monday while he was on the ground in Chicago for the Democratic National Convention.
The Democratic National Convention, which kicked off on Monday, runs through Thursday.
Bishop reported seeing demonstrators who gathered on the first day of the convention to protest for different causes, including the Israeli-Hamas conflict, LGBTQ rights, abortion, and other issues.
“It’s a pretty disparate message. As I said, you’ve got individuals who are upset about the Israeli-Hamas situation. You’ve got people upset about the U.S. Supreme Court decisions on abortion, returning it back to the states for local voters to decide. You’ve got people pushing for LGBTQ rights and a whole host of other things, including groups that are expected to be protesting the fact that there are noncitizen migrants being shipped to the state of Illinois from the southern U.S. border that are getting flooded by the ongoing situation there,” Bishop explained on Monday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
Bishop pointed out how Chicagoans, specifically the black community, have been outraged by the state and city’s handling of illegal migrants, and noted how those people, who have been vocal at city council meetings, may also attempt to make their voices heard while Democratic National Convention is in town.
“One thing to note too is, you’ve got a contingent here in Chicago that we’ve been tracking for quite a bit. Individuals in the black community who’ve been going to the Chicago City Council meetings are upset about how they feel that their communities are being passed over by a lot of tax dollars going to these non-citizens for everything from subsidized health care to education, housing, and even legal assistance dealing with their migration status,” Bishop said.
“So you have the black community that’s been pretty vocal and it’ll be interesting to see just how strong of a push they have in their efforts, and if their message is going to get across,” Bishop added.
In regards to the tone surrounding the Democratic National Convention with Kamala Harris as the party’s presidential nominee, Bishop said it seems as if the Democrats are in unison when it comes to propping up President Joe Biden, pushing his agenda forward and branding it as Harris’ agenda moving forward.
“It seems that the Democrat establishment narrative is to prop up President Biden, push his agenda forward and have it as Harris’s agenda, but at the same time, they recognize that this is going to be a difficult election. Even Illinois Senate President Don Harmon, he said it’s reminding him of 2012 reelecting Barack Obama and how difficult that was because you have an incumbent president and with Harris taking over the reins of this presidency heading into reelection, essentially, she’s carrying those Biden administration policies. So they’re going to have to try to differentiate the Harris campaign from the Biden campaign,” Bishop said.
Bishop, however, went on to note that when the Democratic National Convention is over, Americans will be brought “back to reality” when faced with the record-high cost of living under the current administration.
“There’s no question that Democrats are going to rule the week, but afterwards, voters, consumers, they’re going to go back into the grocery stores. They’re going to see those high prices. They’re going to see the high prices at the gas pump. By the way, it’s $5 a gallon here in Chicago, and that’s going to bring them back to reality,” Bishop said.
Watch the full interview:
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “DNC” by Democratic Party.
