(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — While some Illinois Democrats skipped the Inauguration of President Donald Trump, the head of the state’s Republican Party is encouraged by the future of the country.
Congressman Mike Quigley (D-5th) is one of more than a dozen Illinois Democrats in Congress who skipped President Donald Trump's Inauguration in D.C., instead honoring Dr. Martin Luther King’s Day by distributing groceries at a food pantry in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood.
“The majority of Americans still think he's too extreme on the issues.”
His advice to those concerned in Illinois and Chicago:
“I think what we saw today was the kickoff that this administration could be worse than the first one for a wide variety of reasons, but all the more reason to stay active.”
The Congressman says the Trump administration's agenda is dangerous.
Also missing from D.C. to participate in MLK Day events were representatives Robin Kelly (D-2nd), Sean Casten (D-6th), and Danny Davis (D-7th).
Meanwhile, at the inauguration was the state Republican Party Chair Kathy Salvi, and she said the mood among the GOP faithful is festive and hopeful.
She even employed some of the president's own rhetoric.
“I think that promises made, promises kept. That was his first term motto, and that's a motto that I'll continue here. I believe we're going to have the four greatest years to come, that it will be an American renaissance,” Salvi said.
Salvi welcomes the promise of mass deportations and downplays fears of some advocates that otherwise law-abiding undocumented immigrants will be swept up in the federal dragnet.
“I know that many people have expressed that fear, but I know this, this administration has pledged to get the dangerous, violent criminals out.”
Salve says, Let's get the first phase done.
WBBM’s Craig Dellimore and Mallory Vor Broker contributed to this report.
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