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McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski is under fire over a “racist” text message earlier this year.
In the text message, he commented on the shooting deaths of two children in the city of Chicago in a message to Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
The children were Jaslyn Adams, 7, and Adam Toledo, 13. Jaslyn’s death occurred at a McDonald’s location.
He said that “the parents failed those kids which I know is something you can’t say.”
“Even harder to fix,” he added.
Activists used a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain communications between Lightfoot and Kempczinski.
“[P].s. tragic shootings in last week, both at our restaurant yesterday and with Adam [Toledo],” he wrote.
“With both, the parents failed those kids which I know is something you can’t say. Even harder to fix,” the McDonald’s CEO said.
Lightfoot responded, “Thanks, Chris. Great to see you in person. Such a great work space, and your folks were terrific.”
“I said to Joe I would be happy reach out to the operator to offer support. He and his team members have got to be traumatized. Terrible tragedy. Thanks again, Chris.”
McDonald’s employees joined others to condemn the company CEO in an open letter. They wrote:
“[Kempczinski’s remarks] provide some insight into why McDonald’s has failed to address its rotten, racist culture under your leadership.”
“It’s clear to us you’re the one who has failed here. Your text message was ignorant, racist and unacceptable coming from anyone, let alone the CEO of McDonald’s, a company that spends big to market to communities of color and purports to stand with Black lives,” the letter stated.
Jaslyn was shot and killed in a McDonald’s drive-thru in April as she sat in a car, WMAQ-TV reported. The car was shot at multiple times, with the child’s father, Jontae Adams, the intended target, according to a report.
More from Western Journal:
Adam, meanwhile, was killed by a Chicago police officer in a high-profile incident in March. Body camera footage appeared to show the boy in that instance holding a handgun during a pursuit with officers.
After the McDonald’s CEO’s messages blaming both deaths on a failure in parenting, critics slammed Kempczinski and accused the messages of containing “racist” language…
When speaking with the radio station, one McDonald’s employee defended the parents of both slain children.
“He doesn’t know the circumstances of these parents,” a woman said of the McDonald’s CEO in Spanish. “A large number of them are single mothers who are just doing their best and sacrifice.”
That employee accused Kempczinski of being ignorant about the plight of poor Chicagoans because of his wealth.
City activist Baltazar Enriquez told the outlet that the CEO’s language when speaking with Lightfoot was troubling.