Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker raised a wild conspiracy theory Sunday for why President Trump is considering deploying National Guard troops to Chicago and other blue cities plagued by crime.
“He has other aims, other than fighting crime,” Pritzker confidently stated, during an interview on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
“The other aims are that he’d like to stop the elections 2026 or, frankly, take control of those elections,” the governor continued.
“He’ll just claim that there’s some problem with an election, and then he’s got troops on the ground that can take control.”
The White House dismissed Pritzker’s allegation.
“It’s amazing the lengths this slob will go to in order to deflect from the terrible crime crisis that has been plaguing Chicago for years,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told The Post.
Jackson noted that the city has racked up more murders than any other US city for 13 straight years and that more illegal firearms are recovered in Chicago than in New York City and LA combined.
Chicago has also experienced a spate of violence — with 35 people shot over Labor Day weekend, including five killed, as of Saturday afternoon.
Chicago had 573 murders in 2024, compared to 377 for New York City and 268 for Los Angeles. Chicago’s murder rate was about 22 killings per 100,000 people — compared with seven for LA and less than five for NYC.
That’s still lower than some major cities — including Detroit (32), Washington, DC, (27) and Atlanta (25).
“Chicago’s residents would be much safer if Pritzker actually did his job and addressed his crime problem instead of trying to be a Resistance Lib hero,” she added.
Pritzker’s unfounded claims come as Trump has strongly hinted that he may soon deploy the National Guard to the streets of Chicago, which he has described as a “killing field” and a “hellhole.”
Trump called the governor “weak and pathetic” for dismissing the need for a National Guard presence in the Windy City in a Saturday Truth Social post.
The president further warned “we’re coming” – suggesting some sort of federal action on crime in Chicago – if Pritzker doesn’t “straighten it out, FAST.”
Trump’s post followed back-to-back bloody weekends in Chicago, which saw 10 people killed by gunfire and scores injured.
“National Guard troops or any kind of troops on the streets of an American city don’t belong unless there is an insurrection, unless there is truly an emergency – and there is not,” Pritzker said of the situation in Chicago.
He also vowed to sue the Trump administration if troops are indeed deployed.
“It’s an invasion with US troops, If they in fact do that,” Pritzker argued.
“They’ll be in court pretty quickly,” he added.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem argued that Pritzker appears to be more concerned with his pride than addressing crime in Chicago.
“This seems like it’s more about Pritzker’s ego now rather than actually protecting his people,” Noem said on “Face the Nation.”
“If he has one murder in the City of Chicago, he should be calling President Trump and saying, ‘What’s your ideas? What can we do?’” the DHS chief added.
Trump deployed thousands of National Guard troops to Washington, DC, earlier this month as part of a sweeping crime crackdown.
Since the president declared a crime emergency in the nation’s capital, violent crime has fallen by 45% – and carjackings are down a stunning 87% – when compared with the same period in 2024, DC Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser said earlier this week.
In June, Trump dispatched 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marine service members to California amid violent anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles.
By July 1, nearly all of the National Guard members and Marines had been removed.
Pritzker did signal that he is willing to accept some federal support.
“We would like [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] agents to take more guns off the streets, we would like FBI to coordinate with our local law enforcement to help catch perpetrators of crimes,” the governor said. “If they would do that, we would welcome that.”
“But that’s not what they’re planning to do.”
The White House did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
