Republican Congressional candidate Joan McCarthy Lasonde, 50, is demanding that nine-term incumbent Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), 72, resign over videos released by James O’Keefe’s Project Veritas revealing that her husband, Robert Creamer, was at the center of a plot to incite violence at Donald Trump rallies, in a tactic known as “bird-dogging.”
“We called for her to step down yesterday in front of her office,” Lasonde told Breitbart News on Thursday. “Willful ignorance is no excuse. The people in our district are upset. The people are horrified. Our phones are ringing off the hook,”
Lasonde claims that the stunning revelations in the video — which has forced Creamer to resign from his work with the Hillary Clinton campaign — has resulted in constituents to switch their support to her instead of Schakowsky.
NEWS CONFERENCE 1 P.M. TODAY AT 820 DAVIS ST., EVANSTON; LASONDE TO DEMAND SCHAKOWSKY RESIGN
— Joan Lasonde (@JoanforCongress) October 19, 2016
“Creamer is obviously guilty,” Lasonde said of the veteran Chicago activist and convicted felon who is thought to have planned the Democrats’ political strategy during the push for Obamacare in 2009 and 2010.
“He stepped down. Inciting violence is criminal. Our question is, what was Schakowsky’s part in it? Was she an accomplice? She’s denying that there is even a problem.
“Yesterday, she said it was manufactured and it’s a non-existing scandal. She said that my call for her to step down is ridiculous,” Lasonde continued. “If she did not participate, at the very minimum, she needs to come out and denounce it. Instead, she’s pretending that it’s manufactured, that it’s not a scandal.”
Creamer is the co-founder of Democracy Partners, a consulting group that, according to O’Keefe’s videos, apparently contracts directly with the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee. Creamer also affirmed on video that Clinton is aware of “all” of his work, and that Democracy Partners has a daily telephone call with the Clinton campaign to coordinate efforts.
“And then, of course, it’s now coming out, that Schakowksy’s husband visited the White House 342 times since 2009. Are you kidding me? He’s a convicted felon,” Lasonde said.
Creamer served several months in federal prison in 2006-7, plus several more of house arrest, for a check-kiting scheme.
Lasonde noted that Schakowsky was the ringleader of protests and riots that led to the cancellation of Trump’s March 11 rally at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Lasonde was present at that protest and said that “it was ugly.” She recalled how Schakowsky herself carried a “Gang of Hate” sign during the rally, which featured Republicans Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner’s names on it ,and which also bore the name of a Democratic super PAC with which her husband is aligned.
Initial reports in the mainstream media placed the blame on Trump supporters for the March shutdown, suggesting they provoked the riots which led to the rally’s cancellation. “But now we are learning it was their people,” Lasonde said of Schakowsky’s husband and the Democratic Party. “Lives were put at risk. It’s voter intimidation. And inciting violence is criminal.”
“Lasonde said she’s for term limits and would even term limit herself if she were to win on November 8. “This is how all the corruption starts. Schakowsky has been our congresswoman for 18 years. She’s a nine-term incumbent and she has been part of the political ruling class for over a quarter of a century. I am not a career politician.”
Lasonde also pointed out that if there was something Schakowsky wanted to accomplish, “she should have accomplished it by now. She’s had over 25 years in government. And these are soft Democrats who tell me, ‘you have a point.’ We’ve given her 25 years and we are $19 trillion in debt.”
She added, “our government is broken. Congress is at an all-time low with a 10 percent approval rate. I’m from the private sector … If your boss gives you a 10 percent approval rating, you’re fired.”
Asked by Breitbart News if Lasonde has gained votes as a a result of this revelation, she said, “Oh yes, absolutely. I know a lot of Democrats that will be crossing over. I meet with them in Schakowksy’s hometown of Evanston and they agree: Anything she wanted to accomplish, she should have achieved by now.”
She added that she is the only congressional challenger and candidate to receive the endorsement of the Chicago Tribune over the incumbent. And she also noted her support from the Jewish community.
“The Jewish vote is also very important in our district. Schakowsky has betrayed the Jewish community. First, when she led the boycott of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he came to speak before Congress. And she also supports the Iran nuclear deal, which is ‘game ove’ for the Jewish community.”
“We have momentum. Momentum is on our side,” she said. “This is the closest we’ve come since Mr. Pollak ran in 2010.”
Breitbart News Senior Editor-at-Large Joel. B. Pollak, who ran against Schakowsky six years ago, is credited with paving a path for Lasonde to win the congressional seat for Republicans for the first time in decades. “We’ve got a good shot and it’s in large part because of Joel,” Lasonde said. “He set the tone.”
Lasonde added, “It’s time for new representation and a fresh voice. Enough is enough.”
Follow Adelle Nazarian on Twitter and Periscope @AdelleNaz
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