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Vice President J.D. Vance slammed Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Sunday, saying he should “suffer some consequences” for his handling of Chicago’s high crime rate.
“I think that Governor Pritzker has allowed a lot of people to be killed in the city of Chicago and elsewhere,” Vance told ABC’s “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos during a testy exchange. “I think it’s disgraceful, and I think he absolutely should suffer some consequences for the fact that there are thousands of innocent Chicagoans who are dead because he failed to do his job.”
Stephanopoulos, a former Clinton administration official, pressed Vance on whether he agreed with President Donald Trump that Pritzker had committed a crime. Trump had posted that Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson should be imprisoned for failing to protect ICE officers.
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Trump accused the elected officials of failing to protect ICE officers, and said that the actions amounted to criminal activity during remarks to the press at the White House. He made the remarks in response to a question about whether he would direct the Justice Department to look into charging Johnson and Pritzker.
“I’ve seen the law. And when you have a group of people where the police call off the safety for ICE officials, I’ve understood that, and I’ve read it today in numerous journals, that that’s illegal,” Trump said.
Trump later doubled down on his comments in a Truth Social post.
“Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers! Governor Pritzker also!” Trump posted on Truth Social Wednesday.
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During “This Week” on Sunday, Stephanopoulos pressed the vice president over whether he agreed with Trump that Pritzker had committed a crime. Vance sidestepped the question multiple times, but criticized the Illinois governor for failing to address Chicago’s crime crisis.
“I think Governor Pritzker has certainly failed to keep the people of Illinois safe. And it’s interesting to me, you know, Governor Pritzker will talk a lot, I’m sure, about how bad Donald Trump is, about how bad I am, and about how the administration is. He is the governor of a state. That where its biggest city has murder rates that rival the most violent places in the third world,” Vance said.
There were 591 homicides in Chicago in 2024, according to CPD data. Chicago had the highest number of homicides of any U.S. city in 2024, according to the FBI. Overall crime in Chicago was down 11 % from the previous year.
Trump deployed 200 National Guard troops to Chicago Monday, against the wishes of Pritzker and Johnson. Three hundred Illinois National Guard troops have also been activated. ICE agents have clashed with protesters in recent weeks as they attempt to conduct immigration raids in the city.
An Illinois District Court judge blocked the deployment of National Guard troops Friday, but on Saturday a Federal Appeals court said they could remain in the Chicago area so long as they’re not deployed.
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Vance called on Pritzker to stop blocking the National Guard in his state.
“He should be mad at the criminals that he has failed to keep at bay. We’re trying to help him, and we’re trying help the residents of his biggest city. I wish that he would let us, because he certainly isn’t doing the job himself,” Vance told Stephanopoulos.
Pritzker, immediately following Vance on “This Week,” accused the vice president of uttering a “tidal wave of lies” during his appearance.
“You heard, just over and over again, him just making things up on national television with you,” Pritzker said.
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