Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel slammed Joe Ricketts in a blistering statement Tuesday after racist emails from the patriarch of the Cubs-owning family were leaked and published online. NBC 5’s Lisa Chavarria has the details.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel slammed Joe Ricketts in a blistering statement Tuesday after racist emails from the patriarch of the Cubs-owning family were leaked and published online.
Splinter News on Monday published a trove of what the outlet said are emails from Ricketts in which the billionaire TD Ameritrade founder evaluates conspiracy theories about former President Barack Obama and shares racist jokes about Muslims, among other incendiary messages.
"Joe Ricketts once said that I do not share his values. Truer words were never spoken," Emanuel said in a statement.
"The ignorance and intolerance he has espoused are not welcome in Chicago. Those are not the values I learned from my parents, and those are not the values Amy and I have instilled in our children," he continued.
"Joe Ricketts should consider himself lucky he has never met my mother. She would teach him a lesson. I am proud not to share his bigoted opinions. Hate has no home in Chicago," Emanuel added.
Included among the messages Splinter published Monday are several chain emails with widely-refuted falsehoods about Obama's citizenship, jokes disparaging people of various minority backgrounds and several conspiracy theories that Ricketts then appeared to forward on to others.
One of those messages prompted Pete Ricketts — one of Joe's four children and now governor of Nebraska — to suggest his father research a bit more thoroughly before spreading any chain emails.
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"I recommend you go to www.snopes.com and search on these stories before you pass them on," Pete Ricketts reportedly wrote.
Tom Ricketts, one of Joe's other two sons and the chairman of the Cubs organization, denounced the emails Tuesday.
"We are aware of the racially insensitive emails in my father’s account that were published by an online media outlet," Tom Ricketts said an emailed statement released by a spokesman for the Cubs.
"Let me be clear: the language and views expressed in those emails have no place in our society," the response continued.
"My father is not involved with the operation of the Chicago Cubs in any way. I am trusted with representing this organization and our fans with a respect for people from all backgrounds. These emails do not reflect the culture we’ve worked so hard to build at the Chicago Cubs since 2009," Tom Ricketts' statement ended.
Joe Ricketts himself apologized for the emails in a blog post on his personal website Monday, writing, "I deeply regret and apologize for some of the exchanges I had in my emails. Sometimes I received emails that I should have condemned. Other times I’ve said things that don’t reflect my value system. I strongly believe that bigoted ideas are wrong."
