Pummel Him

Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker did not handle this well. Fox News handled it, well, as you would expect Fox News to handle it.

This is incredible

Bret Baier: “Why does Chicago have the highest murder rate of all the big cities?”

JB Pritzker: “We’re not in the top 30”

Baier shows him a map showing Chicago is #1

Pritzker: "Look, you can pull statistics up ... our murder rate has been cut in half” pic.twitter.com/a360hDRrmv

— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) October 24, 2025

Yahoo!news has posted the transcript of the exchange. (And what's with the exclamation point!?):

Baier: Why does Chicago have the highest murder rate of all the big cities?

Pritzker: Well, we are not in the top 30 in terms of our murder rate. Indeed, Our murder rate has been cut in half over the last four years and every year it's gone down by double digits and if you look at all of the violent crime over the last four years...they've all gone down

Baier: Here's a map most populous US cities 17.47 per 100,000 population Chicago's number one over Philadelphia, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Phoenix, Los Angeles, New York, and San Diego.

Pritzker: What I'm explaining to you is

Baier: Now, you're talking about violent crime.

Pritzker: Look, you can pull statistics up; I can, too.

Baier: No, no, these are murders

Pritzker: I'm explaining to you that our murder rate has been cut in half and very importantly Brett, and you gotta hear this very importantly we've been doing the things that are necessary to bring crime down right we've invested in community violence interruption we've invested in police

According to Yahoo! News, the FBI Crime Data Explorer for 2024 "shows Chicago with the worst murder rate of U.S. cities bigger than 1 million population. Lead Stories calculated the same rate per 100,000 that Baier cited to Pritzker: 17.47. However, the "2024 Homicide Statistics for 24 U.S. Cities" compiled by the Center for Public Safety Initiatives of Rochester University listed Chicago as having the 8th highest murder rate.

For what it's worth, USA Facts, a non-partisan government data publisher found that per capita, Cook County- which includes the greater Chicago metropolitan area, per capita "ranked 17th among 63 large-central metro US counties with reliable data." Given that those numbers include municipalities other than the city itself, this should be of little solace to the mayor of Chicago but significant to the governor of Illinois.

The map provided Fox News viewers was headlined "Murder Rates in Most Populous U.S. Cities." It was technically correct because the city of Chicago in 2024 had the worst murder rate of cities over one million in population. It was misleading, however, because there were seven major cities with a higher rate in the same year.

There were, according to the Chicago Police Department, 797 homicides in Chicago in 2021 and as the RIT study indicates, 573 homicides in the city in 2024. It appears they're down further in 2025 and it's possible that when Pritzker contended the rate has been cut in half, he was including the statistics- incomplete- for 2025. 

Admittedly, though, any statistics which Pritzker might mention are of little interest to viewers. Moreover, few viewers care that Illinois has "invested in police" which, presumably, means an increase in officers but no one knows. And people don't know what "community violence interruption" is unless it's explained, and then most of them wouldn't care.

With the rise of social media and of Donald Trump, the only defense now, unfortunately, is a good offense.  The goal should be to indict by argument the President for being not only unconcerned about crime, but for being pro-crime.

The black lives matter movement is over and the public has signaled repeatedly that it doesn't find imprisonment offensive. The Illinois governor could have started by criticizing the President for cutting funds to states and localities for law enforcement. Police recruitment is curtailed and fewer judges can be hired to lock people up. Throw in the January 6 argument and emphasize that, unlike Trump, Illinoisans do not consider criminals who batter and assault police to be "hostages." 

The last step should be to make a public offer to the President resembling that made by Maryland governor Wes Moore, who in August challenged Trump to hit the streets of Baltimore with him. "Donald Trump, if you are not willing to walk our communities, keep our name out of your mouth," Moore boldly stated.

A wise and scared Trump turned him down. But that's alright. If Pritzker had urged Trump to take a walk in Chicago with him, he could have spiced it up with "if you're man enough." (That's not the kind of language Democrats usually use but last year, Kamala Harris lost and Donald Trump won, and Democrats should take notice.) Donald probably would reject Pritzker's office but, again, alright. At that point the governor could reacquaint Trump with the term "coward." And in the unlikely event Trump accepted, better yet.

If Democrats such as J.B. Pritzker are going to appear on Fox News, they need to be ready to have stuff- true, false, or misleading- thrown at them.  After this interview, Democrats have no excuse. Donald Trump has demonstrated that the media pays attention only to AI stunts, personal attacks, unsubstantiated accusations, and rhetoric about unrelated issues.  Go after the Trump Crime Wave. And don't forget the Epstein ballroom. 

. 

Share |