(The Center Square) – With arguments set Thursday in the state of Illinois’ case challenging President Donald Trump’s use of the national guard, the war of words is heating up.
Earlier Wednesday, Trump posted on social media that Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson should be in jail.
“Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers! Governor Pritzker also!” Trump posed on Truth Social.
Pritzker told MSNBC that Trump should come and get him.
“This guy’s unhinged. He’s insecure. He’s a wannabe dictator,” Pritzker said. “And there’s one thing I really want to say to Donald Trump. If you come for my people, you come through me. So come and get me.”
Illinois U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Springfield, said on social media that Trump’s post is dangerous.
“This is not how a democracy works as an Illinoisan in and as an American. I’m not staying silent,” she said.
During a roundtable discussion at the White House Wednesday about Antifa, which Trump has declared a domestic terrorist organization, Trump called out activities in Chicago.
“In Chicago, anarchists have surveilled at least four local [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] facilities and posted diagrams of the buildings online, meaning nothing but bad, accompanied by photos of specific ICE agents that they’re targeting,” Trump said.
He was later asked if he is seeking Pritzker and Johnson to be prosecuted.
“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.
Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling addressed the reports Chicago police were told to stand down from a crime scene in a recent news conference, emphasizing that officers did respond and that radio transmissions do not always reflect real-time conditions on the ground.
Taking part in the roundtable, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi set her sights on Pritzker and Johnson.
“The Biden administration let them commit these crimes with total impunity. For years, so did Democrat leaders like Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson,” Bondi said.
Thursday, a federal judge will hear arguments around whether to halt the Trump administration’s use of the National Guard in Illinois.
