Normally this wouldn’t be a problem, but the Conservatives led by Boris Johnson and Tzer may, have messed up things so badly over the last three years that a Labour win not totally out of the question.

It’s true that after a public outcry had begun to build, Sharkey sought to establish some distance between his union and the Chavista pilgrims. A different story can be found in the Chicago City Wire account linked in an update at the end of the Wirepoints piece. Aside from quotes from critics, it includes links to publications by the travelers themselves (who referred to themselves as a delegation throughout) and hard-left publications that covered their trip:

https://chicagocitywire.com/stories/512808287-chicago-teachers-union-president-sharkey-in-hot-water-as-some-of-his-useful-idiots-visit-and-embrace-impoverished-socialist-venezuela

Not quite. To crib from Hannah Leone’s article:

“Asked on WTTW’s “Chicago Tonight” last week about “some controversy” surrounding the excursion, union President Jesse Sharkey said: “Members go all kinds of places in the summer. This was neither an official trip nor something that was funded by the union. This is a group of people who are members of the CTU who decided to go to Venezuela.””

Nothing against the State. Nothing outside the State.