Bret Baier Dismantles Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s Spin on Chicago’s Murder Crisis — With a Single Map

Fox News anchor Bret Baier delivered a rare moment of accountability in mainstream journalism when he confronted Illinois’ far-left Governor J.B. Pritzker over the shocking violence plaguing Chicago — and exposed the Democrat’s narrative with one simple map.

During an interview on Fox News Thursday, Baier didn’t sugarcoat the question:
“Why does Chicago have the highest murder rate of all the big cities?”

Pritzker, known for his smooth political doublespeak, didn’t hesitate to deny reality.
“Well, we are not in the top 30 in terms of our murder rate,” he claimed confidently.
He added, “Our murder rate has been cut in half over the last four years, and every year it’s gone down by double digits.”

But Baier wasn’t buying it.
“Here’s a map,” he said flatly, before Fox News displayed a data chart that instantly demolished Pritzker’s talking points.

“Most populous U.S. cities — 17.47 per 100,000 population,” Baier explained. “Chicago is number one over Philadelphia, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Phoenix, Los Angeles, New York, and San Diego.”

The numbers spoke louder than politics. Pritzker, visibly cornered, tried to pivot.
“No, you’re talking about violent crime,” he deflected — but Baier stopped him cold again.

“No, no, no, these are murders,” Baier clarified, refusing to let the Democrat blur the truth.

Pritzker scrambled to recover. “Look, you can pull statistics up…” he began, only for Baier to interject again, cutting through the noise.

Even after being exposed on live television, Pritzker continued spinning:
“I’m explaining to you that our murder rate has been cut in half,” he said defensively. “We’ve invested in community violence interruption. We’ve invested in police. I’ve added more state police than any governor in quite a long time.”

Then came the predictable partisan blame game:
“We’re doing that, and you know who’s doing the opposite? Donald Trump.”

But his attempt to drag the current President into the conversation fell flat. The facts are clear — Chicago still leads America in murders. And even if the number has dropped from 800 in 2021 to around 400 or 500 today, that’s hardly something to boast about.

Cutting tragedy in half doesn’t make it a triumph.

Every weekend, Chicago’s trauma surgeons work overtime to save shooting victims who aren’t counted among the dead. The city’s streets remain a grim testament to what decades of Democrat leadership and “progressive” policy experiments have wrought.

What Governor Pritzker tried to spin as progress is, in truth, a portrait of failure.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump continues to demonstrate that federal leadership can make a real difference. He’s been willing to deploy federal support to cities like Washington, D.C. and Memphis to restore order and protect innocent lives — a stark contrast to the soft-on-crime approach that defines Democrat governance.

Pritzker’s priority appears to be defending his political image, not defending the families terrorized by the chaos in Chicago.