McDonald’s CEO Says He Worries About Staying In Chicago Due To Violence

P. Gardner Goldsmith | September 19, 2022
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Hot on the heels of giant shipper FedEx indicating that the machinations of big-government politicians are ushering in very dark times for the U.S. economy comes more troubling news for leftists: another corporate giant is acknowledging that Chicago's - and Illinois' - anti-gun, anti-Natural Law mentality and message are threatening their businesses.

Heather Haddon reports for The Wall Street Journal that McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski recently expressed major worries about the wisdom of keeping his corporate headquarters in the Windy City due to recent upticks in violent crime.

McDonald’s MCD 0.57%▲ Corp. Chief Executive Officer Chris Kempczinski said the burger giant is grappling with violent crime, homelessness and drug overdoses in its Chicago restaurants, and called on city and business leaders to find ways to address the problems.”


Given the history of Chicago politics and the antipathy that its mayor, Lori Lightfoot, has shown for the right to keep and bear arms, one might advise Mr. Kempczinski that his “call” likely will fall on deaf leftist ears.

Writes Haddon:

“Crime is having a corrosive effect on Chicago, where McDonald’s is working to bring corporate employees back to its headquarters after the Covid-19 pandemic, Mr. Kempczinski said during a keynote speech Wednesday at the Economic Club of Chicago. The company is trying to convince employees that it is safe to return downtown and ride public transportation again, he said.”

This publicly-offered speech coming after three major corporations recently opted to move their HQs out of the collapsing, moldering state of Illinois.

Related: 6-Year-Old Among 34 Shot In Lori Lightfoot's Anti-Gun Chicago | MRCTV

Those would be, as the WSJ notes: Boeing, Caterpillar, and Citadel.

But, why worry? Surely woke ideology, taxation, and gun-grabs will maintain the status quo in the state and city…

That would be a status quo that places Chicago at Number 20 of the nation’s most violent cities, as of August of this year.

As the RealDeal reports:

“Over the past two years there have been multiple shooting victims around Chicago-area McDonald’s. Nine people were shot and two were killed in a single incident near a Near North Side McDonald’s at Chicago Avenue and State Street.”

And there’s a bit more to the story about McDonald’s and its CEO’s current message about the city. Adds The RealDeal:

“Last year, 7-year-old Jaslyn Adams was shot while in the drive-thru lane at one of the restaurant’s locations in Homan Square. Kempczinski faced calls to resign after texts between him and Mayor Lori Lightfoot were released that showed him implying that the seven year old’s parents were ultimately responsible for what happened. He later apologized.”

No such apology from Lightfoot for not only attacking the right to keep and bear arms, but for syphoning money from the very people she says can’t arm themselves against these criminal thugs.

Perhaps thuggery isn’t the sole purview of the criminals on the streets.

So, for now, the embattled McDonald’s CEO is keeping the golden arches based in the Windy City.

But, given the trouble that CEO has brought upon him, the future doesn’t look bright for those arches. Nor does it look bright for Chicago, itself.

Related: First Bus Full Of Illegals from Texas Arrives In Chicago | MRCTV