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In a recent interview, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson dismissed concerns that criticism of Israel could be antisemitic as “witchcraft.”
Appearing on Pastor Jamal Bryant’s Let’s Be Clear podcast, Mayor Johnson reiterated his past genocide accusations against the Jewish state.
“This critique of Israel being casted as antisemitic, I find that to be witchcraft,” he said. “It’s manipulative. You mean to tell me that an entire nation, without impunity, can annihilate an entire group of people, and I can’t call you out for that injustice?”
Mayor Johnson went on to assert, “AIPAC and other millionaires established a $10 million bucket of dollars directed towards me within the first six months in office because I dare call out genocide before it was mainstreamed and popular to describe it as such.”
“We should not only be absolutely concerned about the relationship [with Israel], we should be devastated by the acts that have brutalized innocent people,” he added. “The Palestinian people do not deserve by no means what is happening to them. And so whether it’s a bomb that is dropped on Palestinians or whether it’s dollars being withdrawn out of black communities. An injustice anywhere, help me somebody.”
Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) Chief Government Affairs Officer Lisa Katz — who leads CAM’s work with North American mayors and is a former town supervisor of New Castle (New York) — stated, “Dismissing concerns about antisemitism as ‘witchcraft’ is unacceptable for the leader of any city, let alone one that is home to one of the largest Jewish communities in the United States. Mayor Johnson should use his platform to bring Chicagoans of all faiths and backgrounds together, rather than deepen social divisions.”
Watch Mayor Johnson’s comments HERE (the relevant segment starts at around 23:50):
In April 2025, Mayor Johnson drew Jewish communal condemnation when he wore a keffiyeh while standing for a photo with Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab.
The previous October, Mayor Johnson was criticized after his initial response to the shooting of an Orthodox Jewish man walking to a Far North Side synagogue did not mention the antisemitic nature of the incident.
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