Vice President JD Vance criticizes Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker over Chicago violence

Vice President J.D. Vance said Sunday that Gov. J.B. Pritzker should “suffer some consequences” for failing to “keep the people of Illinois safe.”

Speaking on ABC’s “This Week,” Mr. Vance condemned Mr. Pritzker’s leadership but stopped short of President Trump’s call to have the Democratic governor thrown in jail.

“I think that Governor Pritzker has allowed a lot of people to be killed in the city of Chicago and elsewhere,” Mr. Vance said. “I think that it’s disgraceful, and I think that he absolutely should suffer some consequences for the fact that there are thousands of innocent Chicagoans who are dead because he failed to do his job.”

While Mr. Vance echoed concerns raised by Mr. Trump, he declined to say Mr. Pritzker should be imprisoned, saying he would leave that to the courts to decide.

“But I certainly think that he has violated his fundamental oath of office,” Mr. Vance said. “That seems pretty criminal to me. I’d leave it to a judge and jury to decide whether he’s actually violated the crime.”

The Trump administration has clashed with Mr. Pritzker and other Illinois officials over its push to crack down on crime.

Mr. Pritzker has said the administration’s immigration enforcement efforts and desire to send in National Guard troops are inflaming tensions already running high with protests over an immigration enforcement surge.

Mr. Vance’s comments come in the wake of Mr. Trump’s post on Truth Social last week, in which he said that Mr. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson “should be in jail for failing to protect” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

Mr. Johnson and Mr. Pritzker stood their ground.

“This is not the first time Trump has tried to have a Black man unjustly arrested. I’m not going anywhere,” Mr. Johnson posted on X.

Mr. Pritzker said he “will not back down.” “Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power,” the governor said. “What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?”

Mr. Vance said Sunday that Mr. Pritzker should be working with the administration and less time talking about “how bad Donald Trump is, about how bad I am.”

“He is the governor of a state where its biggest city has murder rates that rival the most violent places in the third world,” the vice president said. “Why is he so mad at Donald Trump for trying to keep Chicago safe?”

“He should be mad at the criminals that he has failed to keep at bay,” Mr. Vance said. “We’re trying to help him, and we’re trying to help the residents of his biggest city. I wish that he would let us because he certainly isn’t doing the job himself.”