SPRINGFIELD – Today's Rauner re-election campaign's "breaking news" headline? The Republican governor mentions the name "Donald Trump" in a press release issued Monday morning.
There are two names the governor has avoided saying and thus acknowledging the Republicans exist and are in the places they are: "President Donald Trump" and GOP primary challenger "Jeanne Ives."
Last week, Governor Rauner did not sit at the table with other governors at President Donald Trump's roll out of a crucial infrastructure plan - despite the state's dire need for federal infrastructure assistance.
CORRECTION: Instead, State Rep. David McSweeney (R-Barrington) was invited by the White House to represent Illinois. (Ed. Note: We mistakenly first wrote the governor sent McSweeney. McSweeney wants to make clear he was invited by the White House and has nothing to do with Governor Rauner. We apologize for the error.)
But Monday being Presidents Day, Rauner's campaign was forced to mention Donald Trump as one of the nine presidents that have been in office since House Speaker Mike Madigan took office:
How Many Presidents Have Come and Gone Since Mike Madigan Took Office?
In honor of President's Day, we put together a list of everyone who has served as President of the United States since Mike Madigan was first elected in 1971. We've had nine (9!) different presidents during that time and yet only one Speaker of the House for all but two years in Illinois since our own Ronald Reagan served in the White House.
- Richard Nixon (1969-1974)
- Gerald Ford (1974-1977)
- Jimmy Carter (1977-1981)
- Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)
- George H.W. Bush (1989-1993)
- Bill Clinton (1993-2001)
- George W. Bush (2001-2009)
- Barack Obama (2009-2017)
- Donald Trump (2017-Present)
