Pritzker Dares Trump to ‘Come and Get Me’ In Cozy MSNBC Interview
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) — in the latest round of his verbal battle with President Donald Trump — challenged the commander-in-chief to “come and get me,” hours after the president called for Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) to be jailed on Tuesday.
The governor laid down the gauntlet during a rather friendly interview with reporter Jacob Soboroff on MSNBC’s Chris Jansing Reports.
“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.”
Soboroff then asked if Pritzker believed Trump would follow through or if he will “chicken out.” He also noted Trump made a similar threat to California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) earlier this year, but that Newsom was still “walking free on the streets.”
Pritzker responded:
“Well, you know the expression: Trump Always Chickens Out. Taco. And I gotta say, he can’t arrest — we’ve done nothing here. And very importantly, it’s Donald Trump that is breaching the constitution, breaking the law. We’re taking him to court, and I believe we’re going to win.”
The governor, a moment earlier, hurled his usual insults at Trump, blasting him as a “wannabe dictator” who is “unhinged” and “insecure.”
His response came after Trump, earlier on Wednesday, posted on Truth Social: “Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect ICE Officers! Governor Pritzker also!”
That post led to Johnson going on CNN and suggesting Trump was targeting him because he is Black.
“It’s certainly not the first time that Donald Trump has called for the arresting of a black man, unjustly,” Johnson said.
Trump and the two Democratic politicians have been trading barbs recently over the president sending National Guard troops, as well as ICE and Border Patrol agents, to Chicago.
President Trump has said he wants to crack down on crime in The Windy City because he was disgusted by news reports about how many people were shot over Labor Day Weekend.
“When I watch television last night, and I’m watching the news and I see that nine people were killed in Chicago and 54 were badly wounded with bullets, I say, ‘That’s not our country. We have to do something,’” Trump said in early September.
ABC 7 in Chicago reported 58 people were shot in the city over the holiday weekend, which was an 87% surge from the same time the year before.
Pritzker and Johnson have strongly opposed the president, with Pritzker saying the president has been “inciting” violence by sending federal agents to his state. Both Johnson and Pritzker sued Trump on Monday to stop him from deploying National Guard members.
Pritzker, during his MSNBC interview, said Trump “wants us to get used to the idea of military on the streets” because he wants to ultimately “post people outside of ballot boxes and polling places” in order to “control” elections.
“Do you believe we’ll have free and fair elections in the United States of America during the 2026 midterms?” Soboroff asked him right after.
“If we all stand up and speak out, we sure as heck will,” Pritzker said.
A moment later, Soboroff bid Pritzker farewell by saying, “For someone who has been threatened with arrest by the president of the United States in the last 24 hours, it’s nice to see you out here on the street with all these people, and I’m grateful for your time.”
You can watch their full interview above, via MSNBC.
