Chicago reporter William Kelly destroyed Windy City Mayor Brandon Johnson during a recent press conference.
Kelly asked Johnson about his coldness when addressing the attack on Bethany McGee, as well as hammering the Mayor on the city’s budget woes and out-of-control violence. The Mayor could not take the heat and ultimately pulled out the race card to avoid providing substantive answers.
The Gateway Pundit previously reported that a lowlife with 72 prior arrests doused McGee with a flammable liquid and set her ablaze on a Chicago train this week.
Lawrence Reed, 50, was hit with federal terrorism charges after he set the 26-year-old on fire while repeatedly yelling, “Burn b**ch!” as the McGee repeatedly rolled around trying to put out the fire.
Kelly began, “Mayor Johnson, hundreds of thousands of people have reached out to me expressing outrage at your cold, heartless response to Bethany McGee’s, the vicious attack on her, calling it an ‘isolated incident.’”
“When a young woman is set on fire on Chicago’s public transportation, that, coupled with your statement that it’s a sickness to incarcerate people, violent repeat offenders who, in your own words, ‘look like you,’ people find that absolutely outrageous.”
“I’ve had many Black and Brown people reach out to me and say that had it been someone that you care about, had it been someone that you love, you would have been outraged by that attack. What do you say to those people, Mr. Mayor?”
Johnson responded, “Well, first of all, what I’ve said from the very beginning is that this was a tragedy, and this woman is fighting for her life. And as I’ve said repeatedly from a question that was raised earlier, that individuals that clearly have a violent past, as well as mental health issues, should not be on the streets of Chicago.”
“Seventy plus arrests,” Kelly noted.
Johnson continued, “And that was a failure and a breakdown in our system. And it’s incumbent upon all of us to continue to support this family and continue to pray for her. And that’s what I’m going to continue to do. And again, as tragic as this is, it is a reminder of how much work we still have to do.”
Kelly pushed, “Business leaders have reached out to me. They say that they don’t trust you, they don’t trust your budget, they don’t obviously trust the head tax. They point to the fact that you don’t own or operate business, you don’t know what it’s like to actually employ anyone, that your policies, in fact, this absolutely insane policy of trying to limit the number of people attending a Chris Cringle market, a Christmas market that is directly across the street from City Hall.”
A testy Johnson interupted, “Your question is like a bag of coleslaw. This is like raisins in coleslaw and a bunch of stuff.”
Kelly pressed, “Is that your budget? Is that your financial analysis? Is that your financial analysis?”
“Ask the specific question,” Johnson shot back.
“Yeah, the question is simply this, ” Kelly continued. “Business leaders who actually know something about a budget, who actually know something about owing and operating a business…”
A petulant Johnson interjected, “I’m having a tough time trusting and believing you. You don’t talk to that many people. There’s just no way.”
“People reach out to me all the time,” Kelly retorted. “They’re outraged.”
“You don’t talk to that many people,” Johnson continued. “There’s just no way. You to Black, Brown people and business leaders, and you can’t come up with a simple question.”
“All day, every day at William J. Kelly, check it out. Be my guest. ReporterwilliamjKelly.com. Take a look. Take a look for yourself.”
Johnson then pulled the race card to avoid answering questions saying, “I’m not going to entertain…because the whole premise of everything that you bring up is not only disgusting and racist. Really? It’s just no fact to it.”
“So the attack on Bethany McGee, you think she deserves that?” Kelly shot back.
He pressed, “But the fact of the matter is simply this, that the fact that you think that a Christmas market across the street from City Hall is more a threat to public safety than violent black teenagers running down State Street shooting people at a Christmas tree lighting shows your priorities. What do you say to those people, citizens, black, brown business leaders? What do you say to those people?”
Rather than addressing the very real issues of violence facing the city, Johnson replied, “That if they get a phone call from you or they get an interaction with you, they should avoid you. I’m not going to entertain…..because the whole premise of everything that you bring up is not only disgusting and racist…. it’s just no fact to it.”
Kelly pressed, “The attack on Bethany, you think she deserved that? Is that? That’s what you’re saying?”
Watch:
I’M BACK!
Wild Raw Video From Today’s Presser – The tension spiked the moment I questioned Mayor Johnson about the attack on Bethany McGee — the young woman who was set on fire on Chicago public transit.
I told the Mayor that Chicagoans were outraged after he described the… https://t.co/myAmn5mpHT pic.twitter.com/ZNGrKXnAR0
— Reporter William J. Kelly #thatreporter (@Williamjkelly) December 2, 2025
