Chicago has been drowning in violence for years, and this past holiday weekend was no exception: fifty people shot in a single city over a few days. That’s not a statistic. That’s a warzone. And yet, when President Trump announced that federal troops would eventually be deployed to restore order, the response from Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson was not gratitude, not cooperation, but outrage.
🚨JOE SCARBOROUGH: “JB Pritzker should do something radical…Pick up the phone. Call the president…Let’s partner up” to solve crime.
The left has lost Morning Joe on crime. pic.twitter.com/LfK3CGDqev
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) September 2, 2025
It’s a familiar script. Trump makes a move to address chaos on the ground, Democrats reflexively oppose it, and the people caught in the middle — Chicago’s residents — are left to endure the body count. The irony, of course, is that Trump knows exactly how his political opponents will react before they do. He says “federal troops,” they scream “authoritarianism.” He says “law and order,” they cry “dictatorship.” And then, when the dust settles, the headlines still read the same: dozens shot, neighborhoods terrorized, lives shattered.
CNN: There were 50+ people shot in Chicago. 30 different shootings. Seven people killed.
Chicago Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez: “Trump is a dictator.” pic.twitter.com/MoiJYwnTBH
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) September 2, 2025
Even MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough, hardly a MAGA cheerleader, could see the absurdity. He urged Pritzker to pick up the phone and work with Trump to do something — anything — to enhance public safety. But reason is in short supply when political posturing takes priority over human lives. Pritzker has boxed himself in by staking his governorship on resisting Trump at all costs. And so, even as the streets of Chicago run red, he digs in his heels.
🚨CNN’s Brianna Keilar downplays a BLOODY Labor Day Weekend:
“Chicago did experience a particularly brutal Labor Day Weekend…but across the board, crime is still down!” pic.twitter.com/CcvO2uTaVE
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) September 2, 2025
Here’s the problem: he can’t stop Trump. Constitutionally, the president has the authority to deploy federal troops in situations of civil unrest or when public safety is collapsing. Pritzker’s “Not in my state” bravado may play well with his donors, but it has no teeth. And Chicagoans know it. They’re the ones living with the daily reality of gunfire, sirens, and chalk outlines on sidewalks.
Southside Chicago Resident:
“You see a lot of crazy stuff…This kind of stuff, it happens ALL THE TIME, but a lot of people who don’t live in these areas — They don’t get to see it.” pic.twitter.com/thO1LnJAv6
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) September 2, 2025
The contrast is glaring. On one side, ordinary residents, desperate for relief. On the other, a political and media class so insulated that they’d rather score points against Trump than stop the bleeding in their own backyard.
