Chicago mayoral favorite Paul Vallas is slammed for liking derogatory tweets

The man tipped to be Chicago's next mayor has been condemned for liking tweets calling lesbian incumbent Lori Lightfoot 'Larry,' and likening her to a gnome.

Democrat Paul Vallas' Twitter account also liked a tweet mocking Lightfoot's hairline, with the scandal emerging just days before city voters hit the polling stations on February 28. 

Vallas has claimed an unidentified staffer was responsible for the rogue likes, and is investigating. The 'Larry' tweet was branded homophobic by some critics.  

A review of Vallas' Twitter page conducted by the Chicago Tribune also found that the Democrat liked tweets that used racist language, supported controversial police tactics like 'stop-and-frisk' or insulted incumbent Mayor Lori Lightfoot on personal terms.

Several of the tweets were made prior to Vallas, 69, announcing last summer that he was running again for mayor, after losing his bid in 2019.

He told the Tribune that many people on his campaign have had access to his Twitter account, and he was working to identify who may have liked the controversial tweets. But Vallas later told CBS News he believed his account was hacked.

Chicago mayoral frontrunner Paul Vallas' Twitter account liked a series of derogatory tweets over the past few years. He is pictured here campaigning earlier in the month

Many of the tweets his account liked portrayed Chicago as a disaster zone plagued by crime, according to the Tribune.

In December 2021, it reports, Vallas liked a tweet reading: 'The Mag Mile will soon be Dystopian Way, akin to a road out of a Mad Max movie. Made desolate by the total indifference of woke Ald. Reilly and Rep. Quigley and the fifth floor gnome.' 

He was referring to the city's famed Magic Mile shopping district, which has grown increasingly-derelict after COVID shutdowns and Black Lives Matter riots decimated the city center.  

Several also blasted Democratic politicians, including Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker for his handling of crime and the pandemic, State's Attorney Kim Foxx's prosecutorial decisions and critical tweets about Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.

At least of the tweets refer to Lightfoot as 'Larry.'

'I bet Larry Lightfoot is with his family today,' one tweet last June read, in response to Vallas giving a shoutout to police officers and other first responders on Father's Day.

Others mocked Lightfoot for her physical appearance, with a tweet from November 2021 saying, 'Trust has eroded, just like her hairline!' in response to a post Vallas made about how Lightfoot presented crime statistics. 

At around the same time, Vallas also reportedly liked a tweet saying Lightfoot is 'beyond human!

'The hatred she has for the police is so degusting,' a Twitter user wrote. 'How do her bodyguards put up with her?' 

And the following month, Vallas' account also liked a tweet calling Lightfoot 'the gnome on the fifth floor.'

Some of the tweets his account liked call Mayor Lori Lightfoot 'Larry' or a 'gnome.' and make fun of her appearance. Lightfoot is seen here speaking to supporters on Saturday

Another tweet Vallas' account liked insinuated Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown (pictured in December) wax a diversity hire

Other tweets Vallas' account is said to have liked over the years also criticized Lightfoot and other Democrats in the city for playing identity politics — going as far as to call Lightfoot a 'racist — while supporting the controversial police tactic 'stop-and-frisk.'

In one tweet from June 2022 that was liked by Vallas' account, a user told him: 'Just don't push that Democratic agenda that the citizens of Chicago are tired of hearing. You know, defund this, reform that, color this, female that. We just want someone to do the job.'

Vallas also liked a tweet in April 2022 insinuating Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown wax a diversity hire, and calling the mayor a racist.

'He was hired for one reason, and one reason only. He was black,' the tweet said. 'Other candidates were more qualified, but they weren't black.

'Lightfoot is a racist, big news flash.'

Then, after Chicago Police Chief Brendan Deenihan announced he would be leaving the department, Vallas' account liked a recent tweet that says Deenihan 'sees the writing on the wall, as a white male his ascension on CPD is limited.

'Identity over competency.' 

And multiple tweet s praised 'stop-and-frisk,' a police tactic that allows forced searches based on 'reasonable suspicion.'

The practice has become widely unpopular across the country amid charges of racial profiling and complains the Chicago police fielded from the American Civil Liberties Inion of Illinois and in lawsuits. 

'NYC became the safest city in the US thanks to stop, question and frisk and Broken Windows,' one user wrote, referring to a tough-on-crime approach. 

'Bring in Bill Bratton who turned NYC around in six months,' the user wrote, referring to a former New York City police chief who touted the practices. 'Learn from history.'

Vallas never responded to another user who asked him in June whether he supports stop-and-frisk, but the Tribune reports that his account liked the tweet.

In a statement to the Tribune, Vallas said he does not 'personally manage' the account and was 'shocked when this was brought to my attention because this kind of abhorrent and vile rhetoric does not represent me or my views.

'While I had nothing to do with liking these posts, our campaign takes responsibility and apologizes, and we want it to be clear that we have already taken immediate steps to restrict access to the account to prevent anything like this from happening again,' he said.

'We are working on identifying who is responsible for liking these tweets, as many volunteers have had access to the account in recent years, including some who are no longer with the campaign, and will take immediate action in removing them from our campaign if they are still involved.'

But he later told CBS News: 'It's obvious we got hacked, and in fact, even though we shut down our system, changed our password, they're still trying to hack us.'

In response, Lightfoot tweeted out a meme showing a man pointing at his reflection in a mirror, captioned: 'Paul Vallas finding out who hacked his Twitter account.'

All of the tweets have since been removed from his profile, which now says '@PaulVallas has not liked any tweets.' 

All of the tweets have been removed from Vallas' profile, which now shows he has not liked any tweets

This is just the latest scandal to befall the Democratic front-runner who is running on a law-and-order platform in the crime-ridden Windy City and has gained widespread support from conservatives, despite saying he is a 'lifelong Democrat.'

Vallas has previously faced criticism from Lightfoot and others who have accused him of using a racist dog whistle by saying his campaign is about 'taking back our city,' but his campaign has denied the message has anything to do with race.

He also came under fire last summer for attending an event for Awake Illinois, a suburban group that has called Governor Pritzker a 'groomer.'

Vallas later said his attendance was a mistake, but the organization recently posted a clip from its March 2021 rally of him saying its president, Shannon Adcock, should maybe run for governor.

More recently, Vallas has had to contend with an endorsement from the Fraternal Order of Police, which is helmed in Chicago by a vocal Trump supporter.

At first, the Tribune reports, Vallas sidestepped questions about the union's conservative leanings.

But he became more forceful in recent weeks, saying the FOP 'disappointed' him by agreeing to attend a speech by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whom Vallas described as a 'right-wing extremist.'

In response to a claim Vallas' account was hacked, Lightfoot tweeted a meme showing a man pointing at his reflection in a mirror, captioned: 'Paul Vallas finding out who hacked his Twitter account'

He now has to retain his lead through the election on Tuesday, as some Chicagoans elect to vote by mail.

A recent poll by M3 Strategies shows Vallas leading the race by 32percent, followed by progressive Brandeon Johnson at 18percent and Lightfoot coming in third at 13.6percent.

But the election is likely going to head into a run-off, NBC Chicago reports, ass none of the candidates are expected to get more than 50percent of the vote.

And 'as long both as the African American and Latino community can coalesce around another candidate, they would pick up enough of a white vote that Vallas would not have a path to victory,' Dick Simpson, a former alderman and a professor emeritus at the University of Illinois Chicago, told CBS News.

The professor has publicly endorsed Lightfoot for re-election.