Via InstaPundit, this brief interview with Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, walking next to Lake Michigan:
REPORTER: “This past weekend, 54 shot, 7 dead…”
PRITZKER: “Look, big cities have crime!”pic.twitter.com/pgFriKxjhn
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) September 2, 2025
The interview is notable for Pritzker’s complete lack of a defense. “Big cities have crime!” Yes, and Chicago has more than most. Better just accept it, says the billionaire Pritzker, who is protected by an armed security detail.
Note how Pritzker, unable to defend himself or local authorities (all Democrats), immediately shifts to an attack on President Trump. This is the Democrats’ universal refuge: they can’t defend their own policies, so they simply play to the 40% or so of the country that hates Trump.
Note, too, how pitiful Pritzker’s attack on Trump is. He accuses Trump of discriminating against cities in blue states–there are cities in red states that have high crime, too! Sure, and those cities, just like Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., have been run by Democrats for decades. What’s the point? Not to mention that Trump is hardly discriminating against a city when he tries to reduce crime there.
All of that said, is Trump serious about nationalizing the Illinois National Guard and deploying it to Chicago? I hope not, because I don’t think it would be legal. The Posse Comitatus Act generally prohibits federal military forces from engaging in domestic law enforcement, which is what would be happening here.
Riots, under the Insurrection Act, are different. Trump was able to nationalize the California National Guard and send it to Los Angeles because 1) there were riots in progress, and 2) the Guard was used to protect federal properties and activities. (Never mind the decision by a Democratic Party judge that the deployment was “illegal.”) And, of course, he could act in the District of Columbia because the District is a federal territory.
Those conditions don’t obtain in Chicago. There are no riots going on, and no threats that I know of to federal buildings or operations. Trump has made it clear that the Guard’s mission would be law enforcement, which is precisely what it can’t do. So I hope Trump is just trying to embarrass Democratic officials like JB Pritzker and the entire government of Chicago, which they richly deserve.
What I can’t explain is why voters in blue cities persist in electing administrations that expose them to unacceptable levels of violent crime. Democratic Party governance is a perverse, self-inflicted disaster.
