Illinois Governor JB Pritzker (D) issued a challenge to President Trump, saying “come and get him,” after Trump suggested that Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) should be jailed.
In an interview on MSNBC’s “The Chris Jansing Report,” host Jacob Soboroff pointed out that Trump had recently called for the two leaders’ imprisonment. He asked Pritzker about his reaction to Trump’s comments.
Pritzker responded by questioning the credibility of Trump, a “convicted felon” who he described as “mentally unstable” and with dictatorial tendencies. He made it clear that if Trump aimed to come after his constituents, he should address him directly. “So come get me,” Pritzker stated.
Trump had earlier posted on Truth Social that Mayor Johnson “should be in jail for failure to protect,” and added, “Governor Pritzker too!”
The escalating tensions are part of a broader conflict between Democratic leaders and the Trump administration, which has been exerting federal authority over state and local matters.
In response, White House Press Secretary Abigail Jackson criticized Pritzker, labeling him an “incompetent bastard” who disregards violence in Chicago, where, just the previous weekend, 30 people were shot, including five fatalities. She accused him of deflecting blame onto Trump instead of addressing the city’s crime issues, emphasizing that he has “blood on his hands.”
Pritzker had previously suggested that he was contemplating sending federal troops to Chicago, characterizing Trump as “suffering from dementia.” In a conversation with the Chicago Tribune, Pritzker claimed that Trump’s fixation on Chicago stems from “something deep in his brain,” reiterating, “This man has dementia,” and indicating that the president couldn’t move past whatever was troubling him.
