Chicago mayor's top aide under fire as Johnson's approval ratings decline

A new poll spells trouble for Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. It comes as several aldermen are calling for him to fire one of his top aides for previous remarks about police officers and the war in Gaza.

Kennedy Bartley, previously the managing deputy for external relations, was recently promoted to head intergovernmental affairs for the city. Her job is to work with aldermen and find out if they agree with the mayor on the budget and other proposals. She joined the mayor’s office in May 2024, but NBC 5 unearthed remarks she made during a 2020 Instagram Live, when she referred to police officers as "slave catchers."

"I don't want to call officers 'workers.' Like, as you beautifully framed for us, police officers are slave catchers, not workers," Bartley said in the Instagram Live with @defundcpd during October 2020.

Bartley, formerly an activist and the executive director of United Working Families, also made comments about abolition and defunding the police during a May 2021 podcast called "This Is Your Afterlife," as first reported by FOX 32.

"If I die, especially at the hands of the f***ing pigs, like, don’t name s*** after me. You know, like I don't want a piece of legislation named after me, a road, none of that s***," Bartley said in the podcast.

In the same 2021 interview, she also said, "It's frustrating to me that like, s***, man, like the police lynch black folks every day. You know, shoot black folks and brown folks every day in the street."

The mayor defended Bartley as a top aide on Thursday.

"Those are not words and a reflection of my values," Johnson said when asked about Bartley’s previous comments.

A new poll released first to NBC Chicago shows, citywide, the mayor has a 25 percent favorable rating, 60 percent unfavorable. Juan Rangel's group, the Urban Center Action, commissioned the poll.    

"I think a lot of the actions that are being taken these days further damage his reputation. What's happening with the school board, what's happening with taxes, what's happening with crime. Those are all issues that people are very concerned about, and they do not like the direction that our city has taken," Rangel said.

Ald. Anthony Napolitano, who has called for Bartley to be fired, said the mayor's low approval ratings go hand in hand with the controversy surrounding his aide.

"If you're going to surround yourself with people that are there to probably promote your failure, you're going to fail. And you've seen it across the board: Many people have left that administration already. A lot of them were leading the mayor in the wrong direction," Napolitano said of Ward 41.

Ald. Brian Hopkins of the 2nd Ward had this to say when asked about his working relationship with Bartley going forward: "If I have to work with her, I will, but I don't support her beliefs or philosophies, and I'm personally offended by some of the things that she's said."

NBC Chicago has learned that Bartley has apologized to Ald. Peter Chico, a Chicago police officer on leave, for the previous comments she made about police. Chico has called for Bartley to resign.

Rangel's group's poll also showed Hispanic voters have a 17 percent favorable rating, African-American voters have a 27 percent favorable rating and white voters have a 22 percent favorable rating.

Adding to the controversy, on Bartley's private social media account, days after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, she posted a phrase viewed as antisemitic. Ald. Debra Silverstein said in a statement Thursday, "[Bartley] has shown a clear pattern of disrespect to City Council members, to law enforcement, and to the Jewish community. In these difficult times, we need a Mayor's Office who can work with the Council and unite our city, not one who rejects any dissenting views and insults the citizens who hold them. Kennedy Bartley is clearly not fit for that task."

Earlier this week, four staffers from the intergovernmental affairs department resigned, instead of reporting to Bartley.