Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot leans in on memes mocking her term
Barnini Chakraborty
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Chicago may be getting a new mayor on Monday, but it’s unlikely Brandon Johnson will be as meme-able as his predecessor, Lori Lightfoot.
Lightfoot, Chicago’s first mayor to lose reelection in 40 years, was the subject of several stay-at-home memes during the COVID-19 pandemic that quickly went viral — but probably not for the reasons the Democratic top cop had hoped. But before the memes spread coast to coast, and the mayor’s office leaned in on the hilarity, there was the “Census Cowboy.”
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In 2020, Lightfoot introduced him during a summer press conference. The Census Cowboy was tasked with reminding Chicagoans to fill out their census form because why not, right? The man tapped to play the urban cowboy was Adam Hollingsworth. During his debut, he trotted out to Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” on a brown and white horse, dressed in a checkered red shirt and jeans. He was also carrying a gigantic black and neon yellow flag that matched his face mask and read “Census 2020.”
Feeling festive, Lightfoot pulled out a lime green cowboy hat before announcing that Hollingsworth and his horse would be showing up in neighborhoods around Chicago.
But she warned, “If you see the Census Cowboy coming to your neighborhood, that’s not a good thing. That means you’ve got to step up and do your part and make sure you fill out the census.”
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Hollingsworth became somewhat of a local celebrity but ran into trouble a few months later after making an unauthorized gallop down the Dan Ryan Expressway during rush hour that he livestreamed on Facebook. Lightfoot’s census ambassador was arrested and charged with felony animal cruelty after his horse collapsed at the end of the ride and became critically injured. Hollingsworth was also charged with misdemeanor counts of trespassing and reckless conduct. He ended up begging Lightfoot and a cabal of Chicago rappers for help.
Then came the memes that defined Lightfoot’s first year in office.
While much of the world was on lockdown, Lightfoot wanted to make it clear that Chicagoans needed to follow Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s (D-IL) stay-at-home orders. The problem was many Chicago residents didn’t listen, choosing instead to hang out near the lakefront, take hikes, go to dog parks, and do other outdoor activities. This didn’t sit well with Lightfoot, who threatened to shut down all parks and trails if Chicago didn’t come correct and “abide by the order.”
She didn’t mask her anger, looking visibly agitated that constituents failed to heed commands. So she stepped up her game and demanded people stay home, not congregate, and warned, “Do not let the warming weather let your guard slip.” She also said police would be issuing fines for people caught at large gatherings.
Chicagoans stuck inside passed the time by making memes of Lightfoot. They pulled images of her from news conferences where she was standing with her arms tucked around a folder, wearing her signature baggy suits paired with Keds shoes and a don’t-mess-with-me stare plastered to her face.
There was one of Lightfoot standing on a police sawhorse at the lakefront with a warning: “Thou shall not pass.” Someone also superimposed her face on the Bat-Signal. Another showed Lightfoot giving a seven-day weather outlook, with the forecast just showing “home.” Another had her holding a Pennywise balloon at the Red Line station. (Pennywise is the main antagonist in Stephen King’s horror novel It.) Another showed Lightfoot inside an empty Edward Hopper “Nighthawks” diner. (“Nighthawks” is the 1942 oil canvas painting by Hopper that shows four people in a downtown diner late at night and is hanging at the Art Institute of Chicago.) Staying on the theme, another popped up of Lightfoot glaring at picnickers in Georges Seurat’s “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande,” painting, which is also an Art Institute of Chicago attraction.
But the hijinks didn’t stop there. Lightfoot and her glare started popping up on Christmas ornaments, coffee mugs, and even stickers.
Soon, her administration was in on the jokes and gave Lightfoot, who had not been a popular mayor, the freedom to play along.
On Halloween, she wore a black mask, a Clorox sandwich board, and a red cape with “Rona Destroyer” on the back as she handed out candy to reporters. She also shed politically correct statements, and when former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany called her a “derelict mayor,” Lightfoot tweeted, “Hey Karen. Watch your mouth.”
Anne Libera, longtime director of comedy studies at both Second City and Columbia College, told the Chicago Tribune she thought Lightfoot’s grasp of humor was “brilliant” at the beginning but warned it was a slippery slope and should not be used all the time.
“I remember thinking this was exactly how government should use comedy,” she said. “The thing is, as the pandemic went on, and the George Floyd protests began, a lot of people showed they had little distance from the pain, then jokes look inappropriate.”
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She added that it was hard to use satire when hometown hero Chance the Rapper was tweeting, “Please stop sending huge groups of militarized police into our neighborhoods exclusively.”
When Lightfoot hands over the keys to the mayor’s office on Monday, a second act in comedy seems far-fetched, but the outgoing elected official has proven there is something to be said about getting people to laugh — even if it is at her expense.