Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Council on American-Islamic Relations slammed TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts, who is also the patriarch of the family that owns the Cubs, on Tuesday for leaked emails by website SplinterNews.com that revealed racist jokes and conspiracy theories.
In the emails which were sent and received from December 2009 to March 2012, Ricketts actively helped spread the false “birther” conspiracy about former President Barack Obama — and another shared email suggested Obama was once a sex worker, had made money smuggling heroin, didn’t attend Columbia University, “lied his way into Harvard” and bought a “fake diploma.”
Ricketts also shared Islamophobic beliefs in emails.
“Islam is a cult and not a religion,” he wrote in one 2010 email to his son, Pete Ricketts. “Christianity and Judaism are based on love, whereas Islam is based on ‘kill the infidel,’ a thing of evil.”
Emanuel released a written statement Tuesday morning in which he condemned Joe Ricketts’ “bigoted opinions.”
“The ignorance and intolerance [Joe Ricketts] has espoused are not welcome in Chicago,” Emanuel said.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago) said Ricketts’ emails sent a shockwave through the Muslim community in Chicago and called the comments “alarming and highly disappointing.”
“Bigotry has no home in Chicago,” CAIR-Chicago executive director Ahmed Rehab said. “There are countless Chicagoans who are both Muslims and Cubs fans. This is particularly hurtful to them. The idea that Muslims do not belong or are a threat to our culture is a tired, old Islamophobic trope that is disproven every day through living, working, contributing, and leading in America, our home. It is lazy, ignorant and moreover blatantly false. We expect and demand better. Sports are supposed to bring us together. The Cubs need to act hard and fast to ensure Chicagoans that they embrace our values of anti-bigotry.”
Ricketts and sons Pete Ricketts and Todd Ricketts have been active in conservative politics. Pete Ricketts, is the Republican governor of Nebraska and Todd Ricketts is leading the fundraising efforts to re-elect President Donald Trump.
The elder Ricketts had issued his own statement later Monday:
“I deeply regret and apologize for some of the exchanges I had in my emails,” Joe Ricketts said in a statement provided to the Sun-Times and other news outlets. ‘‘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.’’
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
