Illinois GOP leaders mostly back Trump's call to send troops to Chicago
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Darren Bailey speaks after receiving an endorsement from Donald Trump during a rally in 2022. Photo: Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images
Illinois Republican leaders are mostly supporting President Trump's proposal to bring the National Guard to Chicago to fight crime.
The big picture: While Chicago is majority-Democratic, downstate Republicans are seizing the opportunity to score political points.
Context: It's unclear if Trump has the right to deploy the National Guard in U.S. states. While D.C. has different laws on how it interacts with the federal government, Chicago is under the jurisdiction of the state of Illinois.
- A federal judge is supposed to rule soon on whether or not the president has the authority to override a state's governor to deploy the National Guard.
What they're saying: "Families are burying their children, businesses are shuttering, and entire neighborhoods live in fear," former GOP gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey said in a statement.
- "If Brandon Johnson and JB Pritzker try to block the National Guard from coming into Chicago, they should be thrown in jail."
Republicans closer to the city also took shots at Democrats.
- "President Trump points out what everyone can see: shootings, carjackings, and violent robberies are still plaguing Chicago communities," Sean Morrison, the lone Republican Cook County commissioner, said in a statement.
- "Even the most loyal Democratic voters know this problem is real."
Yes, but: Some others were quick to distance themselves from Bailey's rhetoric.
- "Republicans north of I-80 do not support Mayor Johnson's soft-on-crime approach, but Darren Bailey's demand that the mayor be arrested is more of the same attention-seeking approach to governing that gave him an overwhelming defeat when he ran for governor," former Illinois GOP chair Pat Brady tells Axios.
- "Crime is a serious issue in Chicago and requires a serious discussion, not lobbing idiotic rhetorical grenades from 400 miles away."
Zoom out: While Bailey adds that Chicago is a world-class city, he made headlines in 2022 calling Chicago a "hellhole."
What's next: Brady says Bailey's threats are land mines for Republicans, who are lining up to try and win back statewide seats in 2026.
- "Can you imagine the image blasted all over the world of a white billionaire Republican president locking up a Black elected official because of a disagreement on a policy issue?" Brady added.
- "He should stick to farming."