ANOTHER RAUNER STAFF PURGE
Communications team out after latest gaffe
A day after crafting a controversial statement citing Gov. Bruce Rauner’s position as a “white male,” the governor’s new communications staff has been ousted — with more exits on the way, according to multiple sources.
Sources said the staffers — hired in July after a staff purge and series of protest resignations — were asked to resign; one was asked to stay but chose to resign.
Sources say that includes former Illinois Policy Institute staffer Diana Rickert, who served as the governor’s deputy chief of staff for communications; Laurel Patrick, communications director; and Brittany Carl and Meghan Keenan, both communications specialists. And multiple sources said exits of high- level staffers are also on the way.
A spokeswoman for the lieutenant governor’s office offered no comment on the resignations but said she would be assisting with media calls.
Late Tuesday night, Rauner scrambled to undo the damage from a statement his newly revamped communications office issued earlier in the day, with Patrick writing that the governor would not offer an opinion on a cartoon — that some deemed racist — from the Illinois Policy Institute because he is “a white male.” The story was picked up on national wires.
Hours later, Rauner released a statement saying the comment “did not accurately reflect” his views.
“I can understand why some people found the cartoon offensive. And I believe we should do more as a soci- ety and a nation to bring us together, rather than divide us,” the governor said in the statement.
The communication staffers’ exits mark a cap to a dizzying spell of public flaps for the governor since he directed a staff takeover in mid- July — including the firing of his “body man” on his first day for sexist and racially insensitive tweets; criticism over the right leanings of his high- level staffers; a clarification by email of his comments on Charlottesville and a highly criticized national interview on Fox News.
The negative headlines come as Rauner is seeking re- election — and he is considered a vulnerable Republican governor, despite vast wealth.
One senior Republican operative called the ousting a sign the governor has realized he made a “mistake.”
“The governor and first lady have finally admitted they made a colossal mistake in hiring these rightwing ideologues,” the operative said. “One can only hope for the sake of our state government they will make better choices in the future.”
The administration shakeup began on July 10 when Rauner unexpectedly fired his chief of staff, Richard Goldberg. Goldberg was swiftly replaced by Kristina Rasmussen, former president and CEO of the Illinois Policy Institute. That sparked the exits of at least 20 employees.
Emails sent to Patrick went unanswered on Wednesday. Calls made to Rickert, Patrick and Rasmussen were not returned Wednesday night.
The cartoon by the conservative think tank depicted a black child begging for money for school from a wealthy white man. It was later removed from the institute’s website.