Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel cares little about the city’s black population and is a terrible tipper, according to a health food store worker on the city’s south side.
“The Mayor of Chicago Rahm Emanuel came by my job, still can’t stand this muthafucka tho,” the man, who goes by “GQ,” captioned an Instagram photo posted two months ago.
The picture shows GQ — real name Albert Griffith — standing stone-faced next to a smiling, iced coffee-holding Emanuel. The former Illinois congressman and Obama White House chief of staff is currently locked in a tight run-off race with progressive challenger Jesus “Chuy” Garcia.
Rahn Emanuel posing with GQ (Instagram/gqthateacha)
“He was smilin’ and cheesin’ and stuff,” GQ told In These Times, a progressive, pro-labor magazine. “I’m like, dude, come on: you’re only doing that because you’re trying to get elected. You’re trying to make it look like you’re a man of the people. But you’re not.”
GQ also told the magazine that Emanuel is a tightwad.
“He’s real cheap,” he said.
GQ said that his friend and co-worker made the drink Emanuel is seen holding but that the mayor “only tipped him like a quarter or 50 cents” on the $7 beverage. According to In These Times, GQ’s co-worker verified that, saying that Emanuel also once tipped him 37 cents on the same drink.
That co-worker did tell In These Times that Emanuel’s security detail has left “sizable tips” in the past, though he did not indicate whether that was for the mayor’s drinks or their own.
GQ was direct in his critique of Emanuel, who also served as an aide in the Clinton White House and was a successful investment banker.
“The only time I see him on the South Side is when it comes time for elections,” GQ said, adding that he dislikes Emanuel’s education policies and how he has handled violent crime.
Emanuel, who is known for his intensity and take-no-prisoners style, is referred to as “Mayor 1%” by those in the city who see him as out of touch.
“So many people have been killed,” GQ said. “Fifty schools got closed — and most of them on the South Side and West Side,” referring to the city’s heavily minority-populated areas.
“But you cater to the people in Gold Coast,” he said, referring to Chicago’s heavily-white enclave. “Why don’t you [cater to] the South Side?”
GQ said that he does not know much about Emanuel’s challenger, Garcia. He said that the only politician he’s fond of is Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a progressive Democrat.
In These Times asserts that GQ’s lack of enthusiasm is common among African-American voters throughout the city. The magazine pointed to another picture showing an African-American seeming to respond hesitantly to Emanuel’s handshake offer.
Why is Rahm so scared to come to the south side? No #RahmLove ? pic.twitter.com/RpelwWfSDi
— Nate Rasmussen (@Nate_Rasmussen) March 25, 2015