A rule of thumb among progressive mayors whose cities are awash in chaos is to virtue signal on some unrelated topic. On Wednesday Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson did just that: he called for a ceasefire in Gaza. This action makes him the biggest city mayor to do so.

Johnson said at a news conference:

I condemn the actions of Hamas, but at this point now I believe we’re looking at 25,000 Palestinians that have been killed during this war and the killing has to stop. So yes, we need a cease-fire.

He didn’t say where he got that 25,000 dead number, but it’s from the Gaza Health Ministry, which on Sunday claimed that the death toll passed 25K. They would never, ever inflate any numbers, would they? *eyeroll*

What good will Brandon Johnson’s declaration do? Certainly Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu couldn’t care less what the Chicago mayor says. Johnson’s goal, apparently, is to influence leaders at the DNC and Democratic federal officials to pressure Joe Biden into pressuring Netanyahu.