Peoria Standard

U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL) spoke with Chicago’s Morning Answer regarding Florida Gov Ron DeSantis’s trip to speak with the Illinois law enforcement community last week.

Lahood said people should not listen to hoax news.

“Well, you talk about a fake controversy and people that are jealous of Ron DeSantis. You know, Florida's crime rate right now is at a 50-year low,” LaHood, who is from Peoria, told host Dan Proft before the President’s Day event. “Then they have one of the best economies in the entire country, record surpluses. You know, and so when I hear Pritzker or Foxx or even any of these other people, it's just ridiculous. And I give Ron DeSantis a lot of credit for coming to Chicago today.”

Lahoold explained that the Florida Governor is expected to be also in New York and Philadelphia on President's day "to expose what Pritzker has done to law enforcement in the state of Illinois." According to him the police officers "whether it's in the city of Chicago or in Peoria, Illinois, or a sheriff's deputy" are demoralized. "Law enforcement's demoralized because of what Kim Foxx, Lightfoot, and Pritzker have done. And you guys know it better than anybody. What they've done in the state: eliminating cash bail, reducing penalties for violent offenders and not prosecuting violent criminals or illegal immigrants. And lastly, trying to get rid of qualified immunity. So I'm thrilled Governor DeSantis is coming to Illinois. We're going to have a record crowd of cops and sheriff's deputies there. And I hope this is a lesson to them. I know it won't be, but I hope it is.”

“We continue to hemorrhage thousands and thousands of people out of Illinois because of the policies of Pritzker at the top and Lightfoot and Foxx and many other Democrats who have controlled Springfield," LaHood added. "And it's astonishing that people don't wake up to that fact. But it's just every day there are more and more of my voters that now live in Florida and went there because of the success in Florida. You look at the economic freedom there, the low crime rate there, the opportunity to thrive and prosper and do well – whether it's in your small business or with your family – and it's a success story that everybody ought to be emulating. And again, I think this is a fake controversy from Pritzker, and they should be jealous of what Ron DeSantis is doing. I'm glad you'll be here today to talk about the success model in Florida. And frankly, I'm jealous we don't have Ron DeSantis in Illinois and his policies.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis visited Illinois in a three-state tour on President’s Day. The “Back the Blue” events were aimed at law enforcement, Dupage Policy Journal reported. “The reason why you have crime that is spiraled out of control in so many of these different areas is because you have politicians putting woke ideology ahead of public safety,” DeSantis said to a crowd of law enforcement officers at the Elmhurst Knights of Columbus Hall. “As you see, massive increases in crime in places like Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia. Florida has a 50-year low in our crime rate.”

DeSantis is making public safety an issue as he prepares for an inevitable run for president in 2024. DeSantis's political team organized the Elmhurst appearance called “Law and Order: Florida Leading the Way,” Chicago Sun-Times reported. The event was promoted by Chicago Lodge 7 of the Fraternal Order of Police which noted in an email to members that it was for “law enforcement members only, spouses are not included.”

Joan McCarthy, who attended the event and whose brother works for the Chicago Police Department, told WTTW she is disappointed in the records of Democrat leaders including Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx. “We’ve got to support law and order. Our society, if we don’t have law and order, then we’re in total chaos,” McCarthy told WTTW. “I totally back the blue and I think that police have been getting kind of a raw deal in Illinois, and I came to support and to hear what another governor from another state is going.”