Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner's administrative house-cleaningoperating in overdrive since the General Assembly overrode the governor's veto of its FY 2018 budget earlier in Julyclaimed an employee on their first day on the job July 17 after several homophobic and bigoted social-media postings by that employee were located online, according to reports.
Ben Tracy was recently appointed to be Rauner's new "body man," a euphemism describing a personal assistant often used in politics. But Twitter user Radical Candor highlighted a number of tweets posted by Tracy that included insults against gay people and Indian persons.
One such tweet referred to an individual as a "faggot," while another said, "To the Indian people in the library: Shut the fuck up." Yet another suggested reporters should be "body-slammed."
NBC 5 confirmed July 18 that Rauner personally interviewed Tracy for the position.
After the General Assembly managed to pass a budget over Rauner's veto, the governor's office became embroiled in numerous staffing changes, most notably the replacement of Chief of Staff Richard Goldberg with Kristina Rasmussen, who had been a top official at the conservative Illinois Policy Institute think-tank. Chicago Sun-Times reported July 17 that there had been at least 20 firings and resignations in Rauner's staff since the week of July 10.
Chicago Sun-Times' article is at chicago.suntimes.com/news/rauner-staffers-dropping-like-flies-in-wave-of-firings-resignations/ .