Chicago:Cubs ownership patriarch Joe Ricketts 'regrets' racist emails leaked Monday

https://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/cubs-ownership-patriarch-joe-ricketts-regrets-racist-emails-leaked-monday/

Joe Ricketts and sons Pete Ricketts and Todd Ricketts have been especially active in conservative politics. Pete Ricketts, who in the leaked emails cautions his father in some cases to check the veracity of some information before sharing it, is the Republican governor of Nebraska.

In response to one of those warnings from his son in 2010, Joe Ricketts responded by sharing his belief that, ‘‘Islam is a cult and not a religion. Christianity and Judaism are based on love, whereas Islam is based on ‘kill the infidel,’ a thing of evil.’’

The leaked emails also show Joe Ricketts was an active participant in spreading the birther conspiracy aimed at former President Barack Obama and at one point shared an email that suggested Obama was once a sex worker, had made money smuggling heroin, didn’t attend Columbia University, ‘‘lied his way into Harvard’’ and bought a ‘‘fake diploma.’’

Some of the emails roughly coincide with the revelation of a racist, anti-Obama attack ad planned by a Joe Ricketts-funded Super PAC during Obama’s 2012 re-election bid.
*his family owns The Cubs & Joe Ricketts approved the cash portion of the family’s leveraged $845 million purchase of the Cubs in 2009, despite his conspicuous absence from most materials the team released publicly.