Minneapolis City Council member makes expletive-laden attack on Frey, Trump, fascism at Uptown music fest

Minneapolis City Council Member Aisha Chughtai didn’t hold back over the weekend as she unleashed an expletive-laden attack on Mayor Jacob Frey at an appearance during SPI Fest, an Uptown music festival.

Chughtai, who is the council vice president and represents Ward 10 in the central part of the city, made a brief on-stage appearance at the Green Room during the neighborhood festival, where she made her pointed comments and threw her support behind mayoral candidate Omar Fateh.

“We are going to transform this city,” Chughtai said. “F--- Jacob Frey, f--- fascism and f--- Donald Trump.”

The profane outburst was widely denounced Tuesday by other City Council members, the mayor and by the woman hoping to unseat Chughtai in the elections this fall, Lydia Millard.

“I believe you can be tough without being toxic,” Millard said in a statement.

Chughtai, who was first elected to the council in 2021, has emerged as a strongly progressive voice and someone who hasn’t shied away from criticizing the more moderate Frey. Speaking to the music fest crowd, Chughtai said she ran for the council the first time because she was tired of the city treating people who experienced childhood homelessness and people who come from undocumented families “as garbage.”

“That is not OK,” Chughtai said. “We believe that this is a city where everybody belongs and everybody matters.”

Fateh, the first Somali American to serve in the state Senate, is believed to be the first Somali American state senator in the United States. He is one of eight candidates running for mayor. A democratic socialist, Fateh was endorsed by the Minneapolis DFL.

Frey is also on the ballot.

“The mayor believes in collaboration and the importance of setting aside politics to find common ground,” said Ally Peters, a spokeswoman for Frey. “Unfortunately, it’s clear that the City Council majority doesn’t share those same values. The mayor remains focused on working together to deliver for the people of Minneapolis.”

Calls to Chughtai’s office seeking additional comment were not immediately returned.

Council Members Linea Palmisano, Andrea Jenkins and Michael Rainville issued a statement calling Chughtai’s behavior “an extraordinary breach of decorum” and saying she should apologize to the mayor, her council colleagues and residents of Minneapolis.

Millard, Chughtai’s Ward 10 opponent, said the comments were “ugly” and “dangerous.”

“Screaming obscenities at the Mayor doesn’t solve problems — it only fuels division,” she said in a statement. Millard added that she’s not running in alignment with any mayoral candidate.

Neither Chughtai nor Millard were endorsed at the Ward 10 DFL convention in May after each fell short of the needed 60% vote. Chughtai won 52% of the vote, Millard 47%.

The convention generated plenty of friction as Chughtai said she was assaulted by a Millard supporter and that one of her campaign volunteers was threatened. Millard said the man involved in the altercation was not a supporter of hers and asked Chughtai to correct the record.

In a posting on Instagram, Chughtai thanked the band Space Monkey Mafia for allowing her to take the microphone at the music fest.