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McCarthy Criticizes Emanuel In Mayoral Bid

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Former Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy is launching his mayoral campaign with attacks on Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

But perhaps even more telling, Emanuel is wasting no time firing back.

CBS 2 political reporter Derrick Blakley reports.

Appearing on Friday's CBS 2 Morning News, Garry McCarthy compared Mayor Emanuel to President Trump.

"He and the president are very much alike," says McCarthy. "They're probably the two most polarizing figures in American politics today."

Ironic, at the very least, because in a new digital ad, it's Emanuel who ties McCarthy to Trump.

"The arrogance of this is just overwhelming to me," says McCarthy. " He took a $50,000 donation from President Trump a couple of years ago."

McCarthy claims he wants to bring Chicago together.

After Emanuel's polarizing effect that sows division.

And McCarthy charged Emanuel's Puerto Rico trip amounts to political grandstanding.

"He cares so much about Chicagoans that he's on his way to Puerto Rico to have a photo-op handing out bottles of water," says McCarthy. "He believes that Chicagoans don't see it. I can't believe how insulting it is."

McCarthy also criticized Emanuel over crime and a homicide count that soared after Emanuel fired McCarthy in the wake of the Laquan McDonald shooting.

"His strategy is to distract and to attack. That's what it's going to be," says McCarthy. "He's not going to talk about the issues because he can't. He's got a record of failure."

As for Laquan McDonald, McCarthy insists it was City Hall that sat on that infamous dash cam video, not him.

With the investigation itself in the hands of IPRA and state and federal prosecutors, not Chicago Police.

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