Speaking alongside Texas Democrat legislators who fled their state in order to block the Texas GOP from pursuing redistricting, Illinois Democrat Governor J.B. Pritzker reached the zenith of hypocrisy, declaring that changing election maps in Illinois was “not something that I want to do,” while rhapsodizing, “We&#8217;re fighting for democracy.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Illinois <a href="https://twitter.com/GovPritzker?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GovPritzker</a>: &#8220;Here in the state of Illinois, it is possible to redistrict. It&#8217;s not something that I want to do &#8230; We&#8217;re fighting for democracy. There are not rules anymore, apparently.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/fvWnsaW1M2">pic.twitter.com/fvWnsaW1M2</a>
— CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1952760209434087518?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 5, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Pritzker presided over a congressional redistricting in Illinois in 2021 that received an “F” for its partisanship from gerrymander.princeton.edu, a website that specializes in tracing gerrymandering across the nation.
In 2018, in his first campaign for governor, Pritzker stressed the need for independent congressional and state legislative redistricting, <a href="https://www.nprillinois.org/statehouse/2021-04-27/gop-accuses-pritzker-of-breaking-campaign-promise-on-fair-maps">saying</a>, “We should amend the constitution to create an independent commission to draw legislative maps, but in the meantime, I would urge Democrats and Republicans to agree to an independent commission to handle creating a new legislative map.”
In January 2021, Pritzker reiterated that promise; his spokesman <a href="https://www.illinoispolicy.org/pritzker-breaks-promise-to-end-illinois-gerrymandering/">said</a> Pritzker “has been clear he <a href="https://www.sj-r.com/story/news/2021/01/05/illinois-house-republican-propose-redistricting-reform/6551834002/">will veto</a> a partisan map.” But by April 2021, he said he trusted state lawmakers — as both chambers of the state government were controlled by Democrats — to draw a fair redistricting map, claiming it was too late for an independent commission. Republican House leader Jim Durkin slammed Pritzker, saying he “seems to suffer from retrograde amnesia.”
U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL) echoed, “Governor Pritzker lied to people of Illinois, plain and simple. When he was a candidate for Governor in 2018, Pritzker made an ironclad promise to voters that he would veto any redistricting proposal that was drawn by legislators. That turned out to be a lie. Now that he’s in power and the Democrats have maintained their supermajority control of the General Assembly, Pritzker is enabling a partisan redistricting process that will be used to tighten his party’s grip on power for another decade.”
Illinois House Assistant Minority Leader Tim Butler (R-Springfield) pointed out Pritzker had previously said if there were not an amendment, he would support creating an independent commission. “Butler added that he has a bill ready to go, but Democrats have blocked the effort rather than Republicans as Pritzker now claims,” Illinois Policy reported.
“I would say it’s your friends and the Democratic Party that are not engaging. And we need to have you hold to your word, governor, that you will veto, veto, a partisan map like your office has said,” Butler told the Illinois State House.

Texas Democratic Lawmakers Flee State In Effort To Halt Redistricting Legislation

Mr. Hypocrisy: Pritzker Bashes Texas Maps, Forgets His Own Power Grabs In Illinois

General

Hypocrisy

J.B. Pritzker

Politics

Redistricting

Texas Democrats

Even former NBC anchor Chuck Todd recognized the irony in play when Texas Democrats, unable to win their state legislature&#8217;s redistricting fight by legitimate means, fled to the highly gerrymandered state of Illinois for refuge when they broke quorum in protest.
Todd, the longtime host of NBC&#8217;s &#8220;Meet the Press,&#8221; made the comments during an appearance on &#8220;CNN News Central&#8221; after some 51 Texas legislators <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/texas-dems-cant-win-redistricting-fight-so-they-bravely-turn-tail-and-flee-the-state">fled to Chicago</a> to stop the progress of a Republican-driven redistricting plan — a plan they complain is &#8220;gerrymandered&#8221; and could tip as many as five congressional seats toward the GOP.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨NEW: Chuck Todd *BLASTS* Texas Dems for protesting gerrymandering by fleeing to gerrymandered Illinois🚨
&#8220;I think it’s a bad look for a party that claims to be always trying to protect the democracy.&#8221;<a href="https://twitter.com/DailyCaller?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DailyCaller</a> <a href="https://t.co/XD2MAzVTjL">pic.twitter.com/XD2MAzVTjL</a>
— Jason Cohen 🇺🇸 (@JasonJournoDC) <a href="https://twitter.com/JasonJournoDC/status/1952471645618417737?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;It seems as if the strategy is: bring more attention to this, make everybody uncomfortable. Right? The more painful you make the process in Texas, the more it’s hard to replicate. Maybe there isn’t — they may be — their own colleagues aren’t as interested in this. Congressional Republicans that serve in Texas, whose districts are actually going to get impacted negatively, also secretly are kind of hoping this goes away, too. And I think they think the longer — the more painful they can make this in doing it — maybe there’s a way to shut this down,&#8221; Todd said of the redistricting process.
But then he pivoted to address the fact that the Democrats had fled to Illinois — in part because Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker had expressed solidarity with them in the fight against the new maps — noting that when it comes to gerrymandering, Illinois is home of the real professionals.
&#8220;The part that I think is sort of bad — I think it’s a bad look for a party that claims to be always trying to protect the democracy — is to hole up in a state that gerrymanders: the state of Illinois. I mean, one of the worst … Texas, Florida, Illinois, and Maryland — those are your four giant gerrymandered states. And if you’re trying to make a point on gerrymandering, I don’t think I’d be going to the state of Illinois as a place to hide,&#8221; he explained.
Illinois redrew district maps in 2021 in a successful effort to wrest control of two Republican seats — one of them belonging at the time to Rep. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/adam-kinzinger-suggests-he-risked-his-seat-to-save-democracy-democrat-gerrymandering-erased-his-district">Adam Kinzinger</a> (R-IL) — ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.

Chuck Todd

‘A Bad Look’: Even Chuck Todd Gets Irony Of Texas Dems Fleeing To Illinois To Protest Redistricting

'A Bad Look’: Even Chuck Todd Gets Irony Of Texas Dems Fleeing To Illinois To Protest Redistricting

Illinois

Media

Texas

Democrats — who have a habit of puffing out their chests as they boast of their courage — are having a very tough time with continued Republican victories as their poll numbers continue to be in the trash. All of this is now manifesting in their latest routine in Texas.
Texas Republicans are looking right now at redistricting the state congressionally, a process called gerrymandering.
That’s quite typical around the United States. Every state has some form of gerrymandering — and some of the worst gerrymandered states are Democrat-dominated states.
If you look at a map of Illinois with its congressional districts, it looks insane. The congressional districts make no sense because they&#8217;re all over the place. One congressional district, the 13th, looks like a snake that travels halfway through the state, and that is juxtaposed with the 17th congressional district, which was created simply to get to a Democratic majority.
<div id="attachment_956575" style="width: 394px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-956575" class="size-large wp-image-956575" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MixCollage-04-Aug-2025-02-18-PM-2730-384x576.jpg" alt="Screenshot: @kerpen/X. https://x.com/kerpen/status/1952175690176221608" width="384" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MixCollage-04-Aug-2025-02-18-PM-2730-384x576.jpg 384w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MixCollage-04-Aug-2025-02-18-PM-2730-200x300.jpg 200w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MixCollage-04-Aug-2025-02-18-PM-2730-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MixCollage-04-Aug-2025-02-18-PM-2730-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MixCollage-04-Aug-2025-02-18-PM-2730-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MixCollage-04-Aug-2025-02-18-PM-2730-1360x2040.jpg 1360w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MixCollage-04-Aug-2025-02-18-PM-2730-scaled.jpg 1707w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px" />Screenshot: @kerpen/X</div>
The attempt to treat gerrymandering as though it is unnatural and those kinds of politics are only pursued by one side — which is what the Democrats are claiming — is absolute nonsense.
The Texas state Republicans are now attempting to re-gerrymander the state. Texas Democrats have threatened that they would run away from the state so the state legislature cannot reach a quorum.
In order for them to do that, they have to claim that the gerrymandering is an authoritarian threat to democracy, as opposed to a way that congressional districts have been created since the beginning of our Republic.
There is nothing new here. Elbridge Gerry, from whom the word “gerrymander” is derived, was the Vice President of the United States who served under President James Madison from 1813 until his death in 1814.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-2252-texas-democrats-run-away-plus-the-real-gaza-starvation?elementPosition=1&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h3>
But according to former Barack Obama Attorney General Eric Holder, what the Texas Republicans are doing is “authoritarian” and a “threat to democracy.” Holder, who once called himself Barack Obama&#8217;s “wingman,” stated, “What we&#8217;re seeing now is an attempt by the White House to insulate itself from any kind of congressional scrutiny, any kind of congressional oversight, to make sure that Donald Trump remains the authoritarian figure that he has become. We have a compliant Congress, and he wants to ensure that given the fact that they pass this bill — that is unpopular, that takes healthcare away from people, that gives tax breaks to billionaires, and it puts at risk the Republican majority — that he continues to have that compliant Republican House of Representatives.”
The idea that the president is responsible for gerrymandering as opposed to the party that happens to be in control of the particular state legislature is ridiculous.
So what are Texas Democrats doing? They&#8217;re doing what they&#8217;ve done before. They&#8217;re running away.
POLITICO <a href="https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2025/08/04/the-mess-with-texas-00491589">reported</a> on Monday:
<blockquote>When the Texas legislature reconvenes today at 4 p.m. ET, it will be 57 Democrats short of a quorum. While a small number of Democratic legislators remain in Austin, many more have fled. Instead, some will be in New York, meeting with Gov. Kathy Hochul; they’ll hold a media availability at 10 a.m. in Albany. Others will be hunkered down at an undisclosed hotel in the Chicagoland area; Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is providing them with logistical support. Still others are expected in Boston for the National Conference of State Legislators.</blockquote>
There&#8217;s great irony that legislators from Texas are fleeing to Chicago, considering Illinois one of the most gerrymandered states in America. Illinois Democratic governor J.B. Pritzker is providing them with logistical support, which is no shock, as he wants to run for president in 2028.
Texas Democratic State Representative James Talarico told POLITICO, “I’m hoping that what we’ve heard from blue state lawmakers talking about retaliation may give Texas Republicans pause, it may give Speaker Mike Johnson pause, because he’s got members in blue states that may lose their seats if this escalates further.”
POLITICO continued:
<blockquote>Aboard the bus, he and other members talked about how Abraham Lincoln once broke quorum in the Illinois state legislature by jumping out of a window. “Everybody is hungry and tired, but in good spirits,” Talarico told Playbook.</blockquote>
The genuine heroism of these people.
This is not the first time Texas Democrats have run away to break the quorum. They did this back in 2021; in doing so, they released some of the worst social media ever. They went to Washington, D.C., and started releasing photos of themselves eating salads and talking about what absolute heroes they were.
Talarico was on Joe Rogan’s show recently, where he promoted a bunch of very Left-wing ideas that Rogan — who is not a Right-winger, possibly a heterodox person who voted for Donald Trump, but not traditionally conservative — started buying into. 
“My Democratic colleagues and I have just left our beloved state to break quorum and stop Trump&#8217;s redistricting power grab,” Talarico huffed, adding:
<blockquote>Trump told our Republican colleagues to redraw the political maps here in Texas in the middle of the decade to get him five more seats and protect his majority in Congress. They&#8217;re turning our districts into crazy shapes to guarantee the outcome they want in the 2026 elections. If this power grab succeeds, they will hang on to power without any accountability from the voters. But Texas Democrats are fighting back. We&#8217;re leaving the state, breaking quorum and preventing Republicans from silencing our voices and rigging the next election.</blockquote>
“We are not fighting for the Democratic Party,” he puffed. “We are fighting for the democratic process. And the stakes could not be higher. We have to take a stand.”
“We have to take a stand.” 
By running away.
That, assuredly, must be the only way to take a stand.
“Brave Sir Robin ran away — bravely.”
Run away? Yes. They are so brave.
I am loving every element of this tremendous bravery.
This demonstrates the extent to which Democrats are in real national trouble. They&#8217;re in trouble in states such as Texas.
California has already been basically gerrymandered to death by the Democrats, so this is nothing new. The Democrats are whimpering, “If you go after Texas, we might redistrict California.”
They already did it. How many more seats are they going to take away from Orange County? There&#8217;s not that much more they can do to gerrymander Republicans out of existence in places like California.
All of the posturing speaks to the desperation of Democrats; they have no national brand. Whatever national brand they might possibly have is quite negative.
So they run away.

Texas Democrats Fight Back — By Running Away

Austin

Ben Shapiro

Democrats

Greg Abbott

Opinion

Republicans

U.S. Politics

Tuesday marks 100 days of President Trump&#8217;s second term.
President Trump has done an enormous number of amazing things, ranging from fighting DEI in every aspect of his administration to targeting university campuses that are hotbeds of antisemitism and leftism and wokeness, to having the Secretary of Defense try to fix all the problems at the Pentagon, to establishing DOGE, which is going through all aspects of government spending with Elon Musk and attempting to cut waste, fraud and abuse.
The president has issued more executive orders in his first 100 days than any president in history. He&#8217;s been incredibly effective in terms of pushing forward many parts of his agenda.
With all of that said, the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/04/27/trump-poll-approval-rating-100-days/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">polling</a> right now for President Trump is not good. That is a reflection of public sentiment specifically regarding the economy. And that is all before the main effect of the tariff war that he has declared kicks in.
The good news for President Trump is that he&#8217;s blessed by his enemies, because they are awful. The American people hate the people that President Trump faces down even more than they dislike President Trump.
The same Washington Post/ABC News-Ipsos <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/04/27/trump-poll-approval-rating-100-days/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">poll</a> showing President Trump with a 39% approval rating also shows that 7 in 10 Americans say the Democratic Party is out of touch, while 6 in 10 say that about Trump.
So whatever the American people think of President Trump, they think even less about the Democratic Party.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/bss-ep-2187-member-exclusive?elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+Show+Episodes+Carousel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h3>
There’s a good reason for that, which is that the Democratic Party is so unbelievably unhinged. They are truly incompetent. It is amazing. It&#8217;s a target-rich environment for Democrats out there, particularly on the economy — but they cannot help themselves because they&#8217;re constantly running to the radical left of their own base. They&#8217;re saying idiotic things on a daily basis.
Over the weekend, J.B. Pritzker — the rotund governor of Illinois who has to be lowered into the Illinois capital by crane — was <a href="https://x.com/IsaacDovere/status/1916660604577763511" target="_blank" rel="noopener">giving a speech</a> in which he suggested that anybody who is a supporter of Trump ought to be harassed on the streets.
He declared: 
<blockquote>Never before in my life have I called for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption. But I have now. These Republicans cannot know a moment of peace. They have to understand that we will fight their cruelty with every megaphone and every microphone that we have. We must castigate them on the soapbox and then punish them at the ballot box.</blockquote>
Democrats are unhinged. Instead of them simply saying, “President Trump isn&#8217;t doing the job Americans want him to do,” which would be the smart way to actually approach this, they&#8217;ve decided instead that they&#8217;re going to go psychotic.
Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader and would-be House speaker, was in the middle of a protest when he <a href="https://x.com/IsaacDovere/status/1916660604577763511" target="_blank" rel="noopener">started quoting</a> Ulysses S. Grant during the Civil War, suggesting that America could break down between patriots and traitors. Presumably, the traitors in his mind would be Republicans. 
He quoted Grant saying: 
<blockquote>Whatever may have been my political opinions before, I have but one sentiment now: that is, we have a government, and laws, and a flag, and they must all be sustained. There are but two parties now: traitors and patriots.</blockquote>
This is just psychotic, because he’s not even arguing about the supposed violation of law by the Trump administration. He&#8217;s not arguing about emoluments. He&#8217;s arguing here about the budget. He&#8217;s suggesting if you&#8217;re on the wrong side of the budget negotiation, then you are a traitor. 
President Trump is blessed in his opposition. He brings out the absolute worst in all of his enemies. Jon Ossoff, the soon-to-be ex-senator from Georgia, was trying to rile up the Democratic base, and said that he&#8217;d be <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/sen-jon-ossoff-signals-support-trump-impeachment-rcna203126" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in favor</a> of impeaching President Trump for selling meme coins as a fundraiser. 
With all of that said, it is not good news for President Trump that he&#8217;s riding so low in the polls. That&#8217;s particularly true with independents; according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/04/27/trump-poll-approval-rating-100-days/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a brand-new</a> Washington Post/ABC News-Ipsos poll, among independents, only 33% approve of Trump while 58% disapprove. Among independents who lean Republican, Trump&#8217;s approval has dropped from 76% to 63% since February.
There&#8217;s one reason for this drop, and that reason is not immigration. That reason is not foreign policy. That reason is the tariff war. The tariff war has absolutely crippled him.
According to that <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/04/27/trump-poll-approval-rating-100-days/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">poll</a>, only 31% of Americans approve of the recent turmoil in the stock market. Only 34% of Americans approve of tariffs on imported goods. Only 38% approve of his relations with foreign countries, only 39% approve of his work on the economy.
The problem, however, is that whenever a president is unpopular on one issue, it tends to drag him down on a wide variety of other issues. On immigration, which is a signal issue, his key issue since 2015, President Trump is succeeding. But when it comes to the economy and expanding the power of the presidency, 64% of Americans say that he&#8217;s going too far.
If you&#8217;re hoping for President Trump&#8217;s success, as I am — as someone who voted for him and fundraised for him — he needs to succeed on the economy because if he doesn’t, everything else goes down in flames.
I&#8217;m talking to people who are in the wholesale and retail space and they are freaking out about the tariffs. They’re seeing their orders cut while prices increase. They’re seeing the supply chains break and ships arriving empty. There are a lot of fears of actual shortages and price hikes. I know people who are in the import/export business and they&#8217;re getting hammered, some looking at the possibility of actual bankruptcy. The Magnificent Seven are off to their worst start to a year.
As I’ve said before, there are preconditions to fighting a successful trade war. You need to get ready for it just like a regular war. If you&#8217;re going to win a regular war, you need to make sure your supply lines are in place. You need to make sure that you actually have the material. You have to have your allies in place.
Meanwhile, Congress needs to get the tax bill through ASAP.
President Trump&#8217;s presidency now relies on a couple of things. First, ending this trade war or recalibrating it so that it will be more likely to be successful, which will require dramatic moves. Second, passing the tax bill. If neither of those things happens, then President Trump&#8217;s presidency will continue to spin out. That’s because as the economy goes, President Trump&#8217;s promise for all of his career has been that he&#8217;s a great businessman, and he would make sure the economy was okay. 
Getting the economy right is what President Trump needs to do if he wishes to make the American people happy with his presidency again, which will give him the political capital necessary to do everything else.
That would be fantastic, because he is getting so many other things dead-right.

TOPSHOT-US-POLITICS-TRUMP-HABBA

100 Days: Where Does Trump Stand?

Donald Trump

Hakeem Jeffries

Polls

Presidency

President Trump

Tariffs

Washington Post

Illinois Democrat Governor J.B. Pritzker, apparently beginning his quest for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, called for “mass protests” and “disruption” in an evident attempt to outflank any other prospective candidate in rhetoric targeting the Trump administration.
An <a href="https://www.racetothewh.com/president/2028/dem#google_vignette" target="_blank" rel="noopener">average of recent polls</a> of prospective 2028 Democratic presidential candidates found that former Vice President Kamala Harris led with 27.1%, followed by former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg at 16.1%, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) at 12.9%, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker at 8.6%, and California Governor Gavin Newsom at 7.9%. Pritzker ranked 10th with 3.2%.
<a href="https://ipmnewsroom.org/jb-pritzker-a-potential-2028-democratic-presidential-candidate-headlines-new-hampshire-fundraiser/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Speaking</a> at the New Hampshire Democratic Party’s McIntyre-Shaheen 100 Club Dinner on Sunday, Pritzker bellowed, “Never before in my life have I called for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption, but I have now. These Republicans cannot know a moment of peace. They have to understand that we will fight their cruelty with every megaphone and every microphone that we have. We must castigate them on the soapbox and then punish them at the ballot box.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Pritzker calls for mass protests and disruption &#8211; “Republicans cannot know a moment of peace,” he says, swaying their portraits will one day be put in museums “reserved for tyrants and traitors” <a href="https://t.co/BBBuL1Uz9O">pic.twitter.com/BBBuL1Uz9O</a>
&mdash; Edward-Isaac Dovere (@IsaacDovere) <a href="https://twitter.com/IsaacDovere/status/1916660604577763511?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 28, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&nbsp;
In February, Pritzker seemingly implied that the Trump administration was like Nazis in his <a href="https://www.nprillinois.org/government-politics/2025-02-19/read-gov-pritzkers-budget-address" target="_blank" rel="noopener">State of the State Address</a>, saying he was “watching with a foreboding dread what is happening in our country right now. &#8230; Here’s what I’ve learned — the root that tears apart your house’s foundation begins as a seed — a seed of distrust and hate and blame. The seed that grew into a dictatorship in Europe a lifetime ago didn’t arrive overnight. It started with everyday Germans mad about inflation and looking for someone to blame.” Chicago’s WTTW, a National Public Radio outlet, <a href="https://news.wttw.com/2025/02/19/pritzker-compares-trump-administration-s-approach-nazi-germany-during-state-budget">reported</a>, ”Pritzker Compares Trump Administration’s Approach to Nazi Germany During State Budget Address.”
In June 2022, The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/illinois-gov-pritzker-billionaire-family-at-forefront-of-radical-gender-ideology-push-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>:
<blockquote>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jb-pritzker" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker</a> and his powerful <a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/pritzker/?sh=53c2d1f170f2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">billionaire family</a>, including his transgender <a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/jennifer-pritzker/?sh=52e350e25808" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cousin</a>, are at the forefront of pushing a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/transgender" target="_blank" rel="noopener">radical gender ideology</a> in schools and medical facilities, according to a <a href="https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/billionaire-family-pushing-synthetic-sex-identities-ssi-pritzkers">new report</a>.
The family, whose fortune was built on the Hyatt hotel chain, includes the governor, former Obama administration Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker and philanthropist Jennifer Pritzker, who was born a male and served in the Illinois National Guard. An exhaustive report from <a href="https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/billionaire-family-pushing-synthetic-sex-identities-ssi-pritzkers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tablet magazine</a> details how the wealthy family uses its philanthropic operation to “drive an ideology and practice of disembodiment into our medical, legal, cultural, and educational institutions.”
“Through investments in the techno-medical complex, where new highly medicalized sex identities are being conjured, Pritzkers and other elite donors are attempting to normalize the idea that human reproductive sex exists on a spectrum,” writes Jennifer Bilek.
</blockquote>
In 2020, during the COVID pandemic, Pritzker threatened business owners who defied his stay-at-home order with jail time.
The governor&#8217;s office &#8220;filed an emergency rule that would penalize owners of restaurants, bars, gyms, barbershops and other businesses for reopening before coronavirus restrictions are lifted,&#8221; <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/498263-illinois-business-owners-could-face-fine-jail-time-for-reopening-in" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Hill reported</a>. The emergency rule made reopening early a &#8220;class A misdemeanor,&#8221; which, in Illinois, carried with it a fine of up to $2,500 and up to a year in jail.

US-NEWS-ILL-PHARMACY-BENEFIT-MANAGERS-REFORM-3-TB

Pritzker Calls For ‘Mass Protests,’ ‘Disruption,’ Says GOP ‘Cannot Know A Moment Of Peace’

Violence

Elon Musk’s “America” PAC is spending $1 million backing the judicial campaign of former Wisconsin Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel in a high-stakes state Supreme Court race with implications for abortion and election integrity. 
State election records <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/elon-musk-super-pac-drops-002010161.html">show</a> that Musk’s America PAC dropped $1 million for “canvassing/field operations” in support of Schimel, who is running against liberal Susan Crawford. Both candidates are running to replace liberal Judge Ann Walsh Bradley, whose retirement will put the ideological leaning of Wisconsin’s top court up for grabs at the April 1 election. 
While judicial races in Wisconsin are officially non-partisan, Schimel is backed by Republicans and conservative groups, while Crawford is backed by Democrats and liberal groups. Currently, liberal justices on the court hold a 4-3 majority. 
“Very important to vote Republican for the Wisconsin Supreme Court to prevent voting fraud!” Musk <a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1882394525743927403" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> on X last month. 
Building America’s Future, another PAC that Musk has reportedly backed financially, is also spending $1.5 million on ads going after Crawford’s record as a judge. One spot from the group points out that she <a href="https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2025/02/11/what-to-know-about-the-court-cases-in-brad-schimels-supreme-court-ads/78214352007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sentenced</a> a man convicted of sexually assaulting two young girls in a pool to just four years in prison, well below what prosecutors had requested and the maximum penalty that could have been imposed. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
A 7-year-old girl sexually assaulted at a pool party by a REPEAT offender. The monster faced 100 years in prison, but Susan Crawford let him off with only 4. Now he&#8217;s back on the street and Crawford wants a promotion.
Susan Crawford&#8217;s dangerous decisions are wrong for Wisconsin. <a href="https://t.co/YhhKxcWC2F">pic.twitter.com/YhhKxcWC2F</a>
— Building America&#8217;s Future (@bldgUSAfuture) <a href="https://twitter.com/bldgUSAfuture/status/1892232843327099174?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 19, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
In response to the ad campaign, Crawford has <a href="https://x.com/crawfordforwi/status/1891901189182071084" target="_blank" rel="noopener">accused</a> Musk of “buying off” Schimel. 
&#8220;I&#8217;ve never met nor talked to Elon Musk,&#8221; Schimel <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/elon-musk-super-pac-drops-002010161.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on Thursday. &#8220;No one from my team has ever talked to anyone from Elon Musk&#8217;s team. He hasn&#8217;t asked me for anything, and I haven&#8217;t told him I would do anything.&#8221;
<a class="c-link" href="http://dailywire.com/subscribe" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="http://dailywire.com/subscribe" data-sk="tooltip_parent">PRESIDENTS’ DAY SALE! 40% Off DailyWire+ Annual Memberships With Code DW40</a>
Crawford’s campaign has been backed with hefty donations from Illinois Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker, venture capitalist Reid Hoffman, and leftist megadonor George Soros, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. Soros was influential in getting liberal judge Janet Protasiewicz elected in April 2023 when leftists <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/liberal-wisconsin-judge-wins-supreme-court-race-flips-balance-of-court" target="_blank" rel="noopener">flipped control</a> of the court in one of the most expensive judicial races in history. 
Since that time, the court <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/state-supreme-court-orders-new-maps-for-wisconsin-months-after-liberals-win-majority-on-court" target="_blank" rel="noopener">forced a redrawing</a> of Wisconsin’s legislative maps, making them more favorable to Democrats, and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/swing-state-supreme-court-rules-that-ballot-drop-boxes-can-be-used-in-2024-election" target="_blank" rel="noopener">overturned</a> a previous decision that said using ballot drop boxes violated state law. The court is also expected to make key rulings on the state&#8217;s abortion laws and various election laws. 
Former Wisconsin Republican Governor Scott Walker said Tuesday that conservatives needed to win back control after a decision that blocked a challenge to the mobile voting van.
&#8220;This is just the tip of the iceberg with a 4 &#8211; 3 activist court,&#8221; he posted. &#8220;We have to win in April or Wisconsin may never be a battleground state again.&#8221;

Conservatives Gather For Annual CPAC Conference In Washington DC

Musk PAC Backing Conservative Seeking To Flip Control Of Liberal State Supreme Court

Elections

Elon Musk

George Soros

Wisconsin

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/illinois" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Illinois</a> Democratic Governor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/j-b-pritzker" target="_blank" rel="noopener">J.B. Pritzker</a> over the weekend vowed to have the back of transgender people as he is <a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/lgbtq/2024/11/11/illinois-lgbtq-protections-trans-midwesterners-pritzker-trump-project-2025">reportedly</a> part of a coalition trying to bolster protections after Donald Trump was re-elected to the presidency earlier this month. 
“This Transgender Awareness Week, I want you to know that I see you and have your back as governor,” Pritzker <a href="https://x.com/GovPritzker/status/1857817182089928826">posted</a> on X on Saturday. “Illinois has enshrined protections for gender-affirming care to meet this moment — and because of that, you will have a home here always.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
This Transgender Awareness Week, I want you to know that I see you and have your back as governor.
Illinois has enshrined protections for gender-affirming care to meet this moment — and because of that, you will have a home here always.
— Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) <a href="https://twitter.com/GovPritzker/status/1857817182089928826?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 16, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Protections for gender-affirming care were enshrined in Illinois law last year. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Governor Pritzker is working with other Illinois Democrats &#8220;evaluating what further protections we can enact in the coming months,&#8221; a spokesperson for Gov. Pritzker said. 
He has helped make Illinois one of the most far-Left states in terms of transgender policies, including those aimed at minors. He is responsible for the state adding non-discrimination protections for &#8220;transgender, nonbinary and gender nonconforming students&#8221; in December 2021.
&#8220;Ensuring every Illinois student has access to a safe, validating learning environment where they can be their true self is a top priority for my administration,&#8221; Pritzker said at the time. 
The governor also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/illinois-gov-pritzker-billionaire-family-at-forefront-of-radical-gender-ideology-push-report">signed into law</a> a public school sex education bill that promotes gender identity ideology and other related material in grades K-12. He’s also a staunch supporter of biological males being permitted to compete against females in youth sports if they identify as transgender. 
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/?_gl=1*jtghwp*_gcl_au*ODQ1NjYzNTg2LjE3Mjg5MDk3OTE.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczMDEyMDgwOS40OS4xLjE3MzAxMjA4MzkuMzAuMC4w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MATT WALSH’S ‘AM I RACIST?’ NOW STREAMING ON DAILYWIRE+</a>
Pritzker&#8217;s cousin, Jennifer, was born a male but now identifies as a woman. Jennifer, formerly known as James Pritzker, was a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army National Guard and has three children. The transgender rights activist heads up the Tawani Foundation, <a href="https://tawanifoundation.org/our-focus/#gender-human-sexuality">which</a> “funds studies and efforts aimed at leading to a better understanding, and acceptance, of gender and human sexuality diversity.”
The Pritzker family is one of America’s wealthiest families, with an estimated $41.6 billion <a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/pritzker/">net worth</a> built mainly through the Hyatt hotel chain.
The Illinois Democrat’s stance stands in contrast to what Trump has said about the transgender issue. In 2023, the president-elect said, &#8220;I will then ask Congress to permanently stop federal taxpayer dollars from being used to promote or pay for these procedures and pass a law prohibiting child sexual mutilation in all 50 states.&#8221;

Illinois Governor Hopes To Strengthen State’s Transgender Protections After Trump Win

Illinois Governor Hopes To Strengthen State's Transgender Protections After Trump Win

gender-affirming care

Transgender

Transgender Athletes

transgender surgery

Illinois Governor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jb-pritzker" target="_blank" rel="noopener">J.B. Pritzker</a> complained over the weekend that Texas Governor Greg Abbott is sending illegal aliens to his state instead of letting them stay in Texas.
Pritzker made the remarks during an interview with Jonathan Karl on ABC News&#8217; &#8220;This Week&#8221; when confronted over polling showing that Biden&#8217;s border crisis was hurting Democrats.
&#8220;There&#8217;s clearly a problem at the border,&#8221; Karl said. &#8220;I know you have advocated for a stronger action from the federal government on dealing with this crisis. How does the president address this going forward?&#8221;
Pritzker claimed that it was Congress&#8217; problem and that &#8220;comprehensive immigration reform&#8221; was needed, falsely claiming that Democrats have tried to fix problem and that Republicans have been the ones refusing.
&#8220;Not enough has been done, there&#8217;s no doubt about that,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And I think that the president needs to do more. The Congress needs to do more.&#8221;
&#8220;Cities out here that are the target of this political game that Governor Abbott is playing, are suffering,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;And here in Illinois, it&#8217;s minus 29 degrees outside with the wind chill. We have migrants that arrive from Texas virtually every day, hundreds, and we don&#8217;t have places to put them. We don&#8217;t have enough shelter space here.&#8221;
&#8220;There are plenty of other cities where, you know, if he&#8217;s going to send people, they could be sent, but no,&#8221; he complained. &#8220;He&#8217;s choosing only Democratic states, Democratic cities. And when we&#8217;ve asked him to stop sending people because of the weather, because the dangerous nature of this winter storm that we&#8217;re experiencing now, he&#8217;s refused to stop sending them. So, he does not care about people. He doesn&#8217;t care about the, the migrants, he doesn&#8217;t care about the fact that they&#8217;re going to suffer if they&#8217;re sent to certainly the Upper Midwest, as he is doing now.&#8221;
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-9096" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://onelink.to/dwapp&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1700760801843000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2PQrVSrJfhxNb4LcARqniG">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP</a>
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Thr Governor of Illinois is having a meltdown because Republican governors are sending illegals to his state.
Governor Pritzker signed 4 pieces of legislation to make Illinois “the most welcoming state to migrants.” 
Illinois voted for this. Send more! <a href="https://t.co/vyNjZUqU0i">pic.twitter.com/vyNjZUqU0i</a>
&mdash; Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) <a href="https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1746596051836969188?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 14, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Clinton Global Initiative September 2023 Meeting – Day 2

J.B. Pritzker Complains That Texas Keeps Sending Illegal Aliens To Illinois

Border Crisis

Illegal Immigration

Illinois has agreed to not enforce a law targeting crisis pregnancy centers in the state after <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/federal-judge-blocks-illinois-law-targeting-crisis-pregnancy-centers-violation-of-the-first-amendment" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the measure was blocked</a> by a federal judge.
The law (SB 1909), which was signed by Governor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/j-b-pritzker" target="_blank" rel="noopener">J.B. Pritzker</a> (D-IL) earlier this year, would have allowed the state’s attorney general to investigate alleged consumer fraud against crisis pregnancy centers who speak out about health risks and abortion. On Monday, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/illinois" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Illinois</a> Attorney General Kwame Raoul <a href="https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/63d954d4e4ad424df7819d46/6577d52cad3d8d106caa6cae_NIFLA%20et%20al%20v.%20Raoul%2C%20Agreed%20Order%20Regarding%20Permanent%20Injunction.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">agreed</a> to not enforce the law, which was struck down by a federal judge earlier this year. The proposed agreement will need to be signed off by U.S. District Judge Iain D. Johnston, who previously blocked the law from going into effect.
After the law was signed, the state was sued by a coalition of pro-life organizations, including the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA), the Women’s Help Services, the Pro-Life Action League, Rockford Family Initiative, and several crisis pregnancy centers. The groups were represented by attorneys with the Thomas More Society, a conservative law firm that fights in defense of religious liberty and free speech.
“We are elated that a permanent injunction has been issued against Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and SB 1909, which ensures this unconstitutional law will never go into effect. This is a huge win not only for NIFLA and our wonderful attorneys at the Thomas More Society but especially for pregnancy centers in the state, who serve the thousands of women in Illinois who are facing unplanned pregnancies — all at no cost. SB 1909 was an absolute weaponization of government that unfairly and unconstitutionally targeted pregnancy centers simply because they refused to refer for or perform abortions,” said Thomas Glessner, the founder and president of NIFLA.
“Let this be a stern example of what awaits those who attempt to pass and enforce similar laws — look to Illinois and save taxpayer dollars for actually helping their communities instead of going after organizations that help women and their families,” he added.
Raoul <a href="https://illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/news/story/attorney-general-raoul-issues-statement-relating-to-litigation-over-law-pertaining-to-crisis-pregnancy-centers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that the proposed order would not stop his work “protecting women’s rights to access the full range of reproductive health services.”
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-9096" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://onelink.to/dwapp&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1700760801843000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2PQrVSrJfhxNb4LcARqniG">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP</a>
“Patients in Illinois can be assured that as states continue to enact draconian restrictions on access to reproductive health care, I will not waver in my efforts to ensure that Illinois remains an oasis of reproductive freedom in the middle of our nation,” he said.
Johnston previous blocked the law, saying that it was &#8220;painfully and blatantly a violation of the First Amendment.&#8221;
“There’s no doubt who the Attorney General wants to win or lose in the market place of ideas, but the government doesn’t get to decide that,” Johnston, a Trump-appointee, added. “The people do.&#8221;

Vice President Harris Attends Chicago Events

Illinois Agrees To Not Enforce Law Targeting Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers

Abortion

Pregnancy

Pro-Life Movement

U.S.

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has become the latest Democrat luminary to complain about the influx of illegal immigrants into his state. But unlike some of his cohorts, he refused to contend that efforts should be made to curb illegal immigration at the border.
In a <a href="https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/24003426/bidenletter.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> to President Joe Biden, Pritzker began by noting it had been “13 months since the first bus of asylum seekers arrived in Illinois from the border,” adding that over 15,000 people had arrived in his state. “Governors and mayors from border states have shipped people to our state like cargo in a dehumanizing attempt to score political points,” he complained.
“The people of Illinois are kind and generous,” he first proclaimed. “We believe in the fundamental right of every human, especially those facing persecution, to find refuge and live with dignity in this great country of ours.”
Then came the complaint: “But as the numbers being transported to Chicago are accelerating, the humanitarian crisis is overwhelming our ability to provide aid to the refugee population. Unfortunately, the welcome and aid Illinois has been providing to these asylum seekers has not been matched with support by the federal government. Most critically, the federal government&#8217;s lack of intervention and coordination at the border has created an untenable situation for Illinois.”
“Though we have found temporary housing in existing buildings for a majority of the refugees, we are challenged to find additional housing for the continuous flow of people who keep coming and are now forced to sleep in police stations and on sidewalks. This situation is untenable and requires your immediate help beyond the coming work authorizations for some of the asylum seekers,” he continued.
“As just one state in our union, we cannot lead coordination efforts at the border,” he protested.  “It cannot be that just a few cities and states should now bear the cost of this effort alone.”
“I urge you, Secretary Mayorkas, and the rest of your administration to take swift action and intervene on our behalf and on behalf of the other affected states and their residents, as well as on behalf of the tens of thousands of asylum seekers who undertook a dangerous and difficult journey in hopes of attaining public safety and forging a better life for themselves and their families,” he concluded.
New York Democrat governor Kathy Hochul has complained about the influx of illegal immigrants, but she has also urged stronger efforts to contain immigration. <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/10/01/gov-hochul-concedes-border-is-too-open-and-that-a-limit-needed-on-who-can-cross/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Speaking</a> on “Face The Nation,” she said of the border, “It is too open right now. &#8230; We want to have a limit on who can come across the border. &#8230; People coming from all over the world are finding their way through, simply saying they need asylum, and the majority of them seem to be ending up in the streets of New York, and that is a real problem for New York City. It’s in our DNA to welcome immigrants. But there has to be some limits in place.”

2023 Clinton Global Initiative

Illinois Dem Gov Complains About Illegals Flooding His State. He Doesn’t Mention Stopping It.

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/illinois" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Illinois</a> Supreme Court ruled in favor of a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/debunking-top-5-myths-about-ar-15-aaron-bandler" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ban on AR-15s</a> and other similar firearms after Republicans challenged the law, arguing it was unconstitutional.
In a narrow 4-3 ruling, the court said that Illinois could ban the sale of certain handguns, rifles like AR-15s, magazines for long guns holding more than 10 rounds, and magazines for handguns holding more than 15 rounds. 
In her majority decision, Democratic Judge Elizabeth Rochford <a href="https://ilcourtsaudio.blob.core.windows.net/antilles-resources/resources/3ada0367-2637-42d9-b823-cfa97ae14924/Caulkins%20v.%20Pritzker,%202023%20IL%20129453.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that the plaintiffs were trying to &#8220;piggyback a second amendment claim&#8221; onto an equal protection argument, saying that an argument that the law violates <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/second-amendment" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Second Amendment</a> could not be made due to previous line of arguing. 
Governor J.B. Pritzker (D-IL), who signed the ban into law, praised the court’s decision. “This is a commonsense gun reform law to keep mass-killing machines off of our streets and out of our schools, malls, parks, and places of worship,&#8221; Pritzker said. &#8220;Illinoisans deserve to feel safe in every corner of our state — whether they are attending a Fourth of July Parade or heading to work — and that&#8217;s precisely what the Protect Illinois Communities Act accomplishes,” he <a href="https://twitter.com/GovPritzker/status/1690012828076281856" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a statement. 
Pritzker was referencing a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/shooting-sends-4th-of-july-parade-into-chaos-multiple-feared-injured-or-dead" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shooting</a> in Highland Park on July 4, 2022 that left seven dead and dozens injured. 
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP</a>
In her dissent, Judge Lisa Holder White pointed to the rights of citizens to own guns for protection, referencing the founding of the U.S. 
“This great nation was founded on the premise that the right of law-abiding citizens to bear arms is essential to what it means to be a free people. The right of law-abiding citizens to possess firearms and to arm themselves to protect their families, their homes, and themselves must not be infringed,” she wrote. “Belief in the previously mentioned precepts in no way diminishes the fact that all law-abiding citizens desire safe communities where schools, workplaces, houses of worship, and public gatherings are free from gun violence.”
She added that the constitutional “procedural requirements” were not met when the law was passed so it should be struck down. 
The U.S. Supreme Court previously declined to hear a challenge to the case, saying that it would wait for an appeals court ruling on the decision.

US-NEWS-ILL-ASSAULTWEAPONS-BAN-2-TB

Illinois Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of State Ban On AR-15s

Assault Weapons

Courts

Guns

Second Amendment

The political elites in Illinois have lost their collective mind. At a time when both major and minor crimes in Chicago are out of control and people feel unsafe, the state’s leadership thought it would be a good idea to inhibit citizens from exercising their constitutional right to own a gun, while simultaneously literally giving criminals a get-out-of-jail-free card by <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/07/18/1188349005/illinois-ends-cash-bail-system-state-supreme-court" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ending</a> cash bail, and now allowing certain illegal immigrants to become police officers.
Let’s start with Illinois’ gun grab. The new law, enacted in January 2023, bans the sale of nearly 200 different types of so-called assault <a href="https://www.illinois.gov/news/press-release.25890.html#:~:text=SPRINGFIELD%20%2D%20Standing%20alongside%20lawmakers%20and,switches%20in%20Illinois%2C%20effective%20immediately." target="_blank" rel="noopener">weapons</a>, including the AR-15 and AK-47. The law also bars the sale of magazines that have more than 15 rounds of ammunition for handguns and more than 10 rounds of ammunition for a long gun.
Illinois Democrat Governor J.B. Pritzker gloated at the signing ceremony stating, “Illinois now officially prohibits the sale and distribution of these mass-killing machines.” But if only Governor Pritzker was a student of facts and not just someone afraid of scary-looking guns, he would recognize the ineffectiveness of laws like these. 
The data do not support those in favor of more and more gun control. Only 12% of mass killings are “mass <a href="https://www.heritage.org/the-constitution/report/the-current-gun-debate-mass-shootings?_ga=2.66986990.1762492120.1567008225-1261428870.1565801058">public shootings</a>.” Most mass killings are familicides – murders of family members or intimate partners – and felony-related killings – robberies or gang-related turf battles. Mass public shootings account for less than one-half-of-one percent of all gun deaths every year.
<a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/type-gun-us-homicides-ar-15/story?id=78689504" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ABC</a> News reports, &#8220;&#8230;there are only 20 million assault rifles in the United States, a fraction of the estimated 400 million guns in the country.&#8221; In 2019, handguns were used in 62% of the nation’s gun murders, according to FBI data.
&#8220;According to <a class="zZyg UbGl iFzk qdXb WCDh DbOX tqUt " href="https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/suficspi16.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-testid="prism-linkbase">a 2016 Survey of Prison Inmates</a> from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, handguns were the most common type of gun possessed by federal and state prisoners. About 18% of the prisoners said they possessed a handgun, and 2% or less possessed a rifle or shotgun,&#8221; according to ABC News.
Criminals, by definition, do not care about the law. That is what makes them criminals. The same prison inmate survey found that only 7% of prisoners purchased their weapons under their own name from a licensed dealer. More than half of prisoners had stolen the weapon, found it at the scene of a crime, or obtained it off the street or from the underground market. Furthermore, from August 1988 through August 2019, more than “85 percent of <a href="https://www.usconcealedcarry.com/resources/gun-facts-and-fiction/mass-shootings/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mass Public Shootings</a> occurred in gun-free zones.” Criminals don’t care about the law, so gun laws will not affect them.
In addition, although the law will likely be strictly enforced in Chicago, most Illinois county <a href="https://news.wttw.com/2023/01/17/sheriffs-across-illinois-say-they-won-t-enforce-new-assault-weapons-ban#:~:text=A%20number%20of%20sheriffs%20across,County%20Sheriff%20Jeff%20Bullard%20said." target="_blank" rel="noopener">sheriffs</a> have issued statements announcing they will not enforce the law. More than half the counties in the state have passed resolutions, declaring themselves “2nd amendment <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-met-second-amendment-sanctuary-county-movement-illinois-20190416-story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sanctuary counties</a>.”
And if our leaders really wanted to save lives, shouldn’t they be banning cars and trucks? 46,980 people <a href="https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/motor-vehicle/overview/introduction/?utm_source=Google_Search&amp;utm_medium=cpc&amp;utm_campaign=Injury_Facts&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjwt52mBhB5EiwA05YKo9GD5WF_GcF-soM70NPD7rxE-vLbp4eYYof4zoAo7_W5sYDRzGagtxoCDm4QAvD_BwE" target="_blank" rel="noopener">died</a> in motor vehicle crashes nationwide in 2021. By contrast, less than half that number of people, 20,958 died as a result of <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/04/26/what-the-data-says-about-gun-deaths-in-the-u-s/">gun</a> violence. The right to bear arms is guaranteed in the Constitution, the right to drive a car is not. It&#8217;s a simple comparison, but it shows how politicians aren’t worried about saving lives, they are worried about making headlines.
The Illinois gun <a href="https://www.illinois.gov/news/press-release.25890.html#:~:text=SPRINGFIELD%20%2D%20Standing%20alongside%20lawmakers%20and,switches%20in%20Illinois%2C%20effective%20immediately." target="_blank" rel="noopener">law</a> does allow those who owned the now-banned guns and magazines prior to the law’s enactment can keep them … but only if they are registered with law enforcement, effectively creating an Illinois gun registry. 
Not satisfied with disarming law-abiding citizens, Illinois also decided to become one of the only states to eliminate cash bail for people arrested and awaiting trial for their crimes. Under the new law, called “the <a href="https://www.illinoispolicy.org/illinois-supreme-court-criminal-cash-bail-goes-away-sept-18/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SAFE-T</a> Act.” Judges across Illinois will not require those charged with a crime to post bail in order to leave jail while they await trial.
<a href="https://www.ky3.com/2022/09/09/gates-are-open-illinois-ending-cash-bail-system/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Prosecutors</a> from rural Southern Illinois to Chicago are concerned by a section of the law that they say appears to identify a subset of crimes in which the only reason a defendant could be held in jail awaiting trial is if there is a high likelihood, they’ll flee to avoid prosecution. Those crimes include aggravated battery, robbery, burglary, aggravated DUI, kidnapping, vehicular homicide, and all drug offenses.
The Illinois Fraternal Order of <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/07/18/1188349005/illinois-ends-cash-bail-system-state-supreme-court" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Police</a> opposed the law and called a recent decision by the Illinois State Supreme Court “a slap in the face to those who enforce our laws and the people those laws are supposed to protect. The court ignored the pleas of nearly every prosecutor in the state of Illinois, Democrat and Republican, that the elimination of cash bail will put dangerous criminals back on the street, instead of keeping them in jail or forcing them to post cash bail as they await trial,” the group said.
This policy will almost inevitably result in more crime, with many examples of its shortcomings in other liberal cities. In <a href="https://yoloda.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/PRESS-RELEASE-ZERO-BAIL-STUDY-2023-1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yolo County</a>, California, the District Attorney’s Office conducted a review of the re-arrest of people released from under the $0 bail initiative. The study found that more than 70% of those released were rearrested, with 29% of rearrested for a crime of violence including murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, robbery, carjacking, and domestic violence.
And now, the brain trust in Illinois has decided that non-citizens can become police and arrest American citizens. Illinois House Bill 3751 was just signed into law and beginning January 1, 2024, will allow illegal immigrants with valid federal work permits and DACA recipients to join law enforcement in <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-illinois-police-officers-illegal-immigrants-law-1816306#:~:text=The%20bill%2C%20which%20will%20come,that%20federal%20laws%20currently%20forbid." target="_blank" rel="noopener">Illinois</a> – something that federal laws currently forbid. What could possibly go wrong?
These three laws reinforce that the Left actually embraces violence and chaos, especially in Democrat-controlled cities like Chicago. Disarm the citizens and free the criminals.
The Left knows the answer to the gun crisis, they just don’t like it. Reducing the number of criminal shootings requires authorities to enforce the gun laws that are in place rather than pleading them down, keep criminals in jail, eliminate &#8220;gun-free zones,&#8221; and expand the right for citizens to legally carry a concealed weapon. Criminals will start thinking twice if the person next to them could be a good guy with a gun. 
Jim Nelles is a Navy veteran and supply chain consultant based in Chicago. His articles have appeared in the Washington Examiner, Newsweek, Foxnews.com, and the Daily Wire. He has served as a chief procurement officer, chief supply chain officer, and chief operations officer for multiple companies.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP</a>

Menu