Stephen Miller went off on an outlandish tirade against Democratic leaders he accused of being responsible for a “bloodbath” in Chicago.
Speaking to Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Wednesday, the White House deputy chief of staff launched into an unhinged rant against Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson—both of whom Donald Trump has called to be jailed—while accusing them of failing to protect Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.
“What’s the Pritzker record? What’s the Mayor Johnson record? Bloodbath, suffering, death, misery,” Miller said.
“You know, in just one weekend, you had over 70 people shot, 70 people shot in gun battles on the streets of Chicago,” he added, appearing to cite crime figures from June 2024. “More dangerous than Mexico City, more dangerous than Baghdad, Iraq, and this is an American town. Donald Trump stands for peace. They stand for violence and death. It has to stop.”
Miller, the architect behind many of Trump’s most hardline immigration policies, defended the president’s aggressive crackdown on crime in Democratic cities as hundreds of out-of-state National Guard troops began arriving in the Chicago area despite objections from Pritzker and Johnson and figures showing that serious crime has been falling in the city.
Trump has already deployed the National Guard and military forces in D.C. and Los Angeles, but his attempts to send in troops to quell anti-ICE protests in the Democratic stronghold of Portland, Oregon, have been blocked by the courts.
On Wednesday morning, Trump escalated his feud with Pritzker and Johnson by suggesting they should both be arrested for “failing to protect ICE officers” during ongoing protests in Chicago against immigration raids.
Both Democratic leaders appeared undeterred by the president’s alarming call to have his political opponents jailed.
“This is not the first time Trump has tried to have a Black man unjustly arrested,” Johnson posted on X. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Pritzker added: “I will not back down. Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power. What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?”
Elsewhere during his Hannity appearance, Miller claimed that the apparent success of the federal takeover in D.C. showed why other cities should welcome the president’s crime crackdown.
“The Trump plan has brought historic safety to one of the most violent cities on earth, Washington, D.C. That’s what President Trump wants for Chicago. That’s what he wants for Portland, that’s what he wants for Los Angeles,” Miller said.
“And yet, Democrats are on the side every night of the gangbangers, the predators, and now even the domestic terrorists.”
The Daily Beast has contacted Pritzker and Johnson’s offices for comment.
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