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Bruce Rauner Remains Silent on Racist Remarks from Local GOP Chair

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been endorsed by numerous Republican organizations across Illinois.  This week, the leader of one of those organizations, Jim Thompson, sent out <a href=”http://us5.campaign-archive1.com/?u=0c3211a5bc8042781471e0955&amp;id=e548dd9b8a&amp;e=451541894d”>an email</a> comparing President Barack Obama to the offspring of a zebra and a donkey saying, “we could have two living creatures the media will fawn over that is part white part black and all a**!”  Not only has Rauner been endorsed by Thompson and the Winnebago County Republican Central Committee  Rauner gave them more than $4,000 in support of their cause. Thompson’s racist remarks have no place in the public discourse, yet Rauner has remained silent.  Not exactly a profile in courage.
<b>Here background on Rauner’s contributions:</b>
<b>Rauner Has Given The Winnebago County Republican Central Committee At Least $4,250. </b>According to campaign finance reports, Rauner gave $3,000 to the Winnebago County Republican Central Committee on February 6, 2013 and $1,250 on February 14, 2014. [Illinois State Board of Elections, Winnebago County Republican Central Committee <a href=”http://www.elections.il.gov/CampaignDisclosure/ItemizedContrib.aspx?FiledDocID=498998&amp;ContributionType=Individual+Contributions&amp;Archived=True&amp;OrderBy=LastorOnlyName-AtoZ&amp;ItemizedContribFrom=D2Quarterly.aspx”>D-2 Quarterly Report, 2013</a>; <a href=”http://www.elections.il.gov/CampaignDisclosure/ItemizedContrib.aspx?FiledDocID=531036&amp;ContributionType=Individual+Contributions&amp;Archived=True&amp;OrderBy=LastorOnlyName-AtoZ&amp;ItemizedContribFrom=D2Quarterly.aspx”>D-2 Quarterly Report, 2014</a>]
<b>Here’s further background on the hateful email: </b>
<a href=”http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/winnebago-gop-obama-zebra-donkey”><b>Local GOP Party Chair Compares Obama To Zebra-Donkey Hybrid Who Is All ‘A**’</b></a><b></b>
By Daniel Strauss, Talking Points Memo
April 29, 2014
The chairman of a local chapter of the Illinois Republican Party called President Barack Obama an “a**” and said if the media focused about the offspring of a zebra and a donkey there would be two “living creatures” getting plenty of attention that is partially white and partially black.
The joke, by Winnebago County Republican Central Committee (WCRCC) chairman Jim Thompson, came in a regular newsletter sent out to supporters. It came at the <a href=”http://us5.campaign-archive1.com/?u=0c3211a5bc8042781471e0955&amp;id=e548dd9b8a&amp;e=451541894d”>end of the newsletter</a>.
“Media update for the week: saw on the news this week the offspring of a donkey and a zebra, black and white legs, rest all donkey,” Thompson wrote at the end of the newsletter. “Not sure why this is news: now if we can teach him to read a teleprompter, we could have two living creatures the media will fawn over that is part white part black and all a**!”
Thompson is referring to a baby zebra-donkey hybrid that was <a href=”http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/blogs/the-list/os-zonkey-born-at-mexican-zoo-20140425,0,7981552.post”>born</a> at Mexico’s Reynosa Zoo on Friday.
Thompson emailed TPM with the following statement:
I would like to offer my sincere apology to those who were offended, and I regret including this item in the newsletter. In the future, it most certainly won’t happen again.