(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — A controversial Illinois political figure is making a splash in a relatively small suburban race this week.
An online ad posted to YouTube features Orland Township Supervisor candidate Scott Kaspar and a friend dining and criticizing incumbent Paul O’Grady.
Suddenly, ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich, wearing an open-collar dress shirt, wanders into frame and joins them.
Awkwardness ensues as Chicagoan Blagojevich talks about the southwest suburban election and pocketbook issues facing people in that region.
“I couldn’t help but overhear you talking about politicians getting in trouble,” cracks Blagojevich, who was convicted of federal corruption-related charges. “Well, I know something about that.”
Blagojevich blasts O’Grady and advises voters to “fire” the incumbent — a reference to the former governor’s stint on Donald Trump’s television show “Celebrity Apprentice.”
Blagojevich says he’s “calling bulls - - -“ on O’Grady’s reputed claims to be a Democrat sympathetic to Trump. Blagojevich, himself a Democrat, says he should know.
“I’m the only guy in American history who’s ever been fired and freed by the same guy,” he says.
Last year, Republican Trump commuted the prison sentence of Blagojevich to time served.
O’Grady was in disbelief and questions Kaspar’s judgment in getting an endorsement from Blagojevich, whom he called “the king of pay-to-play.”
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