Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson was ridiculed on social media for an embarrassing dance video announcing his reelection bid as crime in the Windy City has spiraled out of control under his watch.
Johnson, 50, showed off his stiff dance moves on a Chicago rooftop while lip-syncing to “Hideaway” by Kiesza — with a group of young people busting a move behind him, including a woman wearing an “I [heart] DEI” T-shirt.
“POV: News just dropped that Mayor Brandon Johnson is running for re-election!” the enthusiastic caption over the 12-second Instagram video read as Johnson gyrated about, clad in a gray business suit.
Commenters on the platform tore into Johnson for the sheer awkwardness of the video, with others hitting him on his record as mayor.
“No solidified plan, just dancing,” one unimpressed Instagram commenter wrote in response.
“This video is just another reason as to why he’s NOT getting our votes,” wrote another.
“Is this a joke?” a third commenter asked.
The episode calls to mind a similarly embarrassing video filmed of his predecessor, Lori Lightfoot, during her own reelection campaign in 2023, where she busted a move in city streets as a drumline played.
Despite Johnson’s attempt to put a cheery spin on his time in office, his tenure has been marred by a 27% surge in overall crime through 2025 compared to the previous four years, according to Chicago Police statistics, and a disturbing rise in antisemitic hate crimes.
He’s also been taken to task repeatedly for stirring up race-based animus and making a series of bizarre public statements.
Even before he was sworn in as mayor, Johnson took heat for warning the public against “demonizing” violent “teen takeovers” in the downtown cluster, during which cars were set ablaze, private property was damaged and rowdy youths clashed with cops.
After a bloody holiday weekend in Chicago in which 19 people were killed, Johnson held a press conference blaming, of all things, Richard Nixon.
“Black death has been unfortunately been accepted in this country for a very long time,” the mayor baselessly claimed.
“We had a chance 60 years ago to get at the root causes. And people mocked President Johnson, and we ended up with Richard Nixon,” he said without elaborating.
Jewish leaders and organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League, have urged Johnson to establish an antisemitism task force to protect the community, after the Chicago Commission on Human Relations found the Jewish community experienced a 58% increase in hate crimes over 2023-2024.
No such task force has yet been established, however the city has put several others together, including the Task Force on Missing and Murdered Chicago Women, which focuses on policy changes to address violence against women, and the Reparations Task Force.
Chicago also established a Task Force on Black Immigrants that investigates social and economic conditions for black immigrants in Illinois.
Johnson was criticized in April when he linked the restaurant industry to “slavery” during a battle with the City Council to eliminate the tipped wage.
“You just watched the entire city council, in transparency, try to take wages away from the very people who are part of an industry that has its ties to slavery is hiding from that,” Johnson said.
“I am boldly declaring that we need reparations in this city, and that’s why I’m funding it.”
Over the summer, Johnson bafflingly declared he was reupping the city’s “Trans Femicide State of Emergency” to highlight violence against transgender women — despite just one reported killing of a trans person this year, compared with nearly 300 other murders across the city.
Johnson is determined to press on, despite abysmally low approval ratings — a recent University of Chicago survey showing just 13.6% of likely voters want him to run again.
He will face an uphill battle in the February 2027 mayoral race, vying for the position with candidates including Chicago Housing Authority CEO Matt Brewer, former Chicago alderman George Cardenas and Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias.
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