Link calls Wilson podcast appearance 'unbecoming'
Democratic state Sen. Terry Link criticized Republican Gurnee Trustee Don Wilson for podcast appearances in which Wilson makes jokes Link calls "unbecoming" of a candidate for office.
The two are facing each other in a race for Illinois Senate.
On a YouTube channel for his DJ business, Wilson posted in 2012 a selection of his appearances on a podcast hosted by radio host Lisa Tyler.
Wilson says he was playing a role on the recording, where he tells a story about wearing a woman's underwear on his head and acts out a fictional sexual encounter with a woman he once helped load a mattress into her car.
"I'm not even a big strip bar kind of guy," Wilson says on the video. "Because if I see it, I need it. And I don't want to get thrown out."
Wilson, who was elected as a Gurnee trustee in 2013, is a radio host and the lead singer for a John Mellencamp tribute band called Mellencougar.
He says he was an entertainer playing a part on a podcast that was never aired on the radio and wasn't heard by many people. He says he's done comedy shows before and the underwear story was about re-enacting a scene from the 2006 Jack Black film "Nacho Libre."
"We were all playing roles," he said.
Link said the comments were "unbecoming" of someone trying to serve in the Illinois Senate.
"As a father of four daughters, I think it's despicable," he said.
The two candidates are vying for a seat in Illinois' 30th Senate District, which includes parts of northeastern, eastern and central Lake County.