Sen. Ted Cruz on Tuesday encouraged banks to leave Chicago for his home state of Texas after Mayor Rahm Emanuel apparently asked financial institutions in Illinois to stop doing business with firearm manufacturers unless they back gun-control measures.
“In light of the reception you have received in the Windy City, please know that Texas would certainly welcome more of your business and the jobs you create,” Cruz wrote in a letter obtained by The Daily Caller.
The letter was addressed to the chief executive officers of Bank of America and TD Bank.
Emanuel last week encouraged these banks “to use your influence to push” gun makers “to find common ground” on guns.
“Both of your companies do considerable business in the City of Chicago, and you may be understandably concerned that there are risks to refusing to comply with the demands of a politician who has earned the nickname, ‘The Godfather,'” Cruz said of Emanuel, whom he also sent a copy of the letter.
In his letter, Cruz also addressed the leaders of the firearm manufacturers Smith & Weston and Sturm, Ruger & Co.
“It is unfortunate that ambitious politicians would try to impose financial harm or even drive your companies out of business in order to further their own political agendas,” he wrote.
He also welcomed those companies to do work in Texas.
“Should Mayor Emanuel’s bullying campaign prove successful, I am confident that there are numerous financial institutions in Texas that would be eager to earn your business,” Cruz wrote.