Rauner Tries Avoiding Trump Visit – A Comedy of Errors

Governor Bruce Rauner sure was in a pickle yesterday. Rauner has been singing President Donald Trump’s praises as he deals with a damaging rift in his Republican base, but still had cold feet about appearing with Trump in pubic. When the President announced he was coming to Granite City, Rauner showcased a comedy of errors trying to avoid Trump:

• Point Out How Ridiculous It Would Be to Visit Granite City Twice in a Week: Rauner started the week by pointing out he did not need to meet Trump since he “was just in Granite City in the past week.”
• Desperately Try to Book Other Events at the Last Minute: The Chicago Sun-Times reported that Rauner scheduled one event the day before Trump’s visit.
• Run Away from Reporters That Show Up to Your Events: Rauner scheduled a number of events to show he was busy on Thursday. But when Mary Ann Ahern of NBC Chicago reporter showed up, Rauner ran away from her questions. Watch here!
• Equate a Bill Signing with a Presidential Visit: Finally, at the last event of the day, Rauner was asked “You didn’t think it was important to support the president in Granite City today at all?” Rauner replied, “what’s important is that we support economic growth for the entire state of Illinois.” Smooth.

Here’s the pickle – while Rauner tries to win back conservative voters, his absence was not missed by supporters of his primary rival, state Representative Jeanne Ives.
“Bruce Rauner’s desperate reelection campaign plunged to new lows this week, with Rauner trying every lame stunt in the book to avoid his partner, President Trump,” said DGA Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro. “Illinois families will never forget how Rauner failed to stand up against President Trump’s harmful agenda. And every time Rauner dodges Trump in public, he gives skeptical conservative voters even more reason to vote for Republican Sam McCann this November.”