Gov. JB Pritzker finally responded to criticism of his recently announced electric vehicle battery factory to be built in Manteno, Illinois by Gotion, which is closely tied to the Chinese Communist Party – the CCP.
“MAGA Republicans have made themselves so irrelevant that they have to rely on xenophobia to gin up controversy for their base,” Pritzker’s office said in a statement to Politico. “Maybe if Republicans in Washington focused on doing their jobs the government wouldn’t be on the verge of a shutdown.”
“MAGA Republicans”?
Hmm. Perhaps Perhaps Pritzker should read this: “Why Democrats joined Republicans opposing money for a controversial Big Rapids battery plant.” That’s the headline in a Michigan Live column earlier this year about Gotion’s substantially identical project in that state. There’s no shortage of Democrats who have joined Republicans in opposition.
The final hurdle for Michigan’s state approval was a vote in the Senate’s appropriation Committee, and the “10-9 committee vote underscores a growing, bipartisan discomfort with promoting companies with ties to China and with the state’s incentive system, with three Democrats…joining the six Republicans on the committee in opposing the Gotion deal,” as The Michigan Bridge reported. [Emphasis added.]
Here in Illinois, those demanding answers about Gotion’s CCP ties include Republican Congressmen Darin LaHood and Mike Bost.
And if Manteno residents who showed up at Monday’s Village Board meeting speak about the Gotion project are a representative sample, opposition certainly isn’t limited to MAGA Republicans and xenophobes. They unanimously opposed the project, as you can see in this video summary.
Responding to Pritzker’s comments, Joseph Cella, a former U.S. ambassador and co-founder of the Michigan-China Economic and Security Review Group (MCESRG), told us on Friday, “This is a textbook disinformation and diversionary statement.” Cella is among the leading Gotion critics.
Gotion unquestionably is tied deeply to the Chinese Communist Party. The most recent summary of the evidence is in a letter sent this week by U.S. Senator Marco Rubio and five GOP Congressman, including Bost. Rubio is hardly a MAGA Republican, either, having run against Trump for the Republican nomination.
However, opposition to Gotion projects isn’t limited to the CCP connection. Serious environmental questions have been raised, along with the corporate welfare issue. The Illinois project is slated to receive some $8 billion of taxpayer assistance for a factory that will cost Gotion $2 billion to build. Democrats and Republicans alike no doubt share those concerns.
Wirepoints is now collecting articles about the Illinois Gotion scandal here.
Most Illinoisans are not aware of the problems with Gotion and its deal with Illinois. That’s because Illinois’ legacy media have almost entirely blacked it out. That’s in stark contrast to Michigan where the press has covered the heated controversy closely.