The allure of Chicago green on St. Patrick’s Day is apparently enough for downstate Republican U.S. Rep. Mary Miller to overcome her fears of a city she has described as a “war zone.”

Miller — a second-term congresswoman from Oakland, a member of the far-right Freedom Caucus and a disciple of former President Donald Trump who is backing him for another White House bid — has planned a March 17 fundraiser at the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago .

[ Days after Naperville native was sworn in, US Rep. Mary Miller criticized for invoking Hitler during Washington speech ]

Miller is seeking contributions from $250 to attend a reception to $2,900 for dinner and a photo at her late afternoon-early evening event, according to an invitation to the event. Checks should be made payable to Miller’s “Victory Committee.”

Miller and her husband, state representative Chris Miller, have been controversial figures in state politics. Mary Miller faced criticism just days after taking office when she said during a speech in Washington that “Hitler was right” about the political indoctrination of youth for future success. She later apologized but accused others of twisting her words.

That speech came the day before the attempted coup on January 6, 2021 at the US Capitol. Chris Miller attended the Save America Rally, where Trump spoke and helped launch the deadly but failed attempt to overturn the electoral vote count that formally made Democrat Joe Biden president.

In a social media video, Chris Miller said Trump supporters were “engaged in a great cultural war to see which worldview will survive. Either we will remain a free people under free market capitalism or they will put us under the tyranny of socialism and communism and dangerous democratic terrorists.”

The Democrat-led Illinois House approved a resolution condemning Miller for siding with the rebels, but a general investigation by the Legislative Inspector General concluded that his remarks did not constitute “conduct unbecoming a legislator.”

Chris Miller has co-sponsored legislation calling for Chicago to secede into its own state and has led separatist rallies in downstate communities.

[ US Rep. Mary Miller’s ‘white life’ comment is latest controversy in her short two years in Congress ]

Mary Miller, who was born and raised in Naperville, was endorsed by Trump last year in his primary victory against five-term Republican U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis of Taylorville. At a rally near Quincy last year, she thanked Trump for appointing Supreme Court justices who led the court to reverse Roe v. Wade, calling it “a historic victory for white life.” Campaign aides said she misspoke and meant to say “right to life.”

Miller has held fundraisers at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. She has also joined far-right US Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Lauren Boebert of Colorado at fundraising events.

In a Twitter posts in July 2021, she said, “Under Democratic leadership, Chicago has become a war zone with no relief in sight.” She followed up a month later withknow and said: “One of the first things people think of when they hear ‘Illinois’ is CHICAGO CRIME. Our state (like other BLUE states!) has failed us.”

Last March, she posted the cover of a gun rights publication that included a photo of her and Boebert outside the US Capitol holding a sign reading “The Second Amendment Caucus.”

She tweeted: “President Biden and the Democrats want to defund the police, take away your Second Amendment right to self-defense, and then watch crime skyrocket in cities like Chicago. As a member of the #2A Caucus, I will always work to protect the right to keep and bear arms!”

Miller’s Victory Committee raised and spent nearly $243,000 in the midterm election cycle with nearly half of that spending transferred to her main campaign account. She also transferred more than $52,000 to an allied political action committee she controls, Faith in America PAC, and more than $30,000 to the House Freedom Fund, the PAC for the House Freedom Caucus.

Contributions from Miller’s Faith in America PAC included $2,900 to Boebert, $2,000 to Greene and $5,000 to the campaign of newly elected New York U.S. Representative George Santos, who has faced criticism over falsehoods he has spread about his resume and background.

Miller’s Victory Committee also paid $15,740 to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club last April for event rentals and catering for a fundraiser, FEC records show.

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