Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has described President Trump as a “monster” for launching a federal investigation against him.
Speaking at a church in Woodlawn, Illinois over the weekend, Johnson said he preferred to hire black people because they are more generous than whites.
This has since led to Department of Justice opening an investigation into Johnson for racial discrimination.
Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Johnson said that Trump’s investigation was the result of his own racial animus:
As far as, you know, the president’s animus towards women, people of color, working people, we have always known who he has been. This is not a surprise. He’s a monster.
We have the most diverse administration in the history of Chicago, and he is threatened by that.
You can tell when someone is fearful is because they act out. We have a president that is screaming and having tantrums right now because we have an administration that reflects the city of Chicago, but he would much rather have administrations that reflect the country club. Period.
He is most comfortable around people who think and look like him.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has a public mental breakdown over the DOJ probing his racially-based hiring
“TRUMP IS A MONSTER” pic.twitter.com/CH6FkdiuHl
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) May 22, 2025
During his appearance at the church this weekend, Johnson boasted about how black people filled the most important positions across his office:
There are detractors that will push back on me and say, you know, the only thing that the mayor talks about is the hiring of black people.
No, what I’m saying is, when you hire our people, we always look out for everybody else. We are the most generous people on the planet.
I don’t know too many cultures that have play cousins. That’s how generous we are. We just make somebody a family member, right? This is how we are.
So, Business and Economic Neighborhood Development, the deputy mayor, is a black woman. Department of Planning and Development is a black woman. Infrastructure, deputy mayor, is a black woman. Chief Operations Officer is a black man. Budget Director is a black woman. Senior Advisor is a black man.
In her letter to Johnson, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon asked for an explanation about his broader hiring practices.
“If these kind of hiring decisions are being made for top-level positions in your administration, then it begs the question whether such decisions are also being made for lower-level positions,” Dhillon wrote.
