Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is amongst his fellow Democrats who consider President Donald Trump will try to “steal” the 2026 election.
Showing on Stephen A. Smith’s SiriusXM present “Straight Shooter” Thursday, Pritzker and Smith mentioned Trump’s transfer to deploy Nationwide Guard troops and ICE brokers into Democratic-led cities, together with Chicago, in latest months.
After the sports activities commentator requested Pritzker why he thinks Trump is repositioning federal employees from companies such because the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to work in companies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Safety (CBP), Pritzker launched right into a idea that Trump will attempt to “seize the ballot boxes” utilizing navy power.
“I will tell you what my theory is about this,” Pritzker started. “And I believe I’m right, which is … because he’s talked about this for some time. Let’s go back to 2020 when he said that the election was stolen from him. It wasn’t.”
Pritzker argued that it was [Trump’s former U.S. national security adviser] Michael Flynn that gave the president the concept to “seize the ballot boxes with the military.”
“And [Trump] repeated it, that maybe they should just seize the ballot boxes with the military. Maybe they should go to where there’s ballot boxes and then they should count the votes themselves,” he continued.
Pritzker went on to declare that now in 2025, Trump is “becoming more unpopular,” and the political chief will attempt to use navy power as a result of he’s “likely to lose the 2026 elections.”
“He’s sending troops into American cities and particularly in blue states, in blue cities, to put them on the ground, get us used to the idea of having military on the ground,” he added. “I believe because he then will say, ‘Well, I’m going to go protect our polling places in Illinois.’ And then if he is losing the elections, meaning the Congress, he will, frankly, just seize the ballot boxes.”
Smith then requested Pritzker to make clear if he was asserting that Trump is “going to try to steal an election.”
“Is that what you’re saying?” the ESPN host questioned.
“Oh, this is a guy who tried to steal the election back in 2020, and he would do it again,” Pritzker replied. “Yeah, I think he’s proven that he’s willing to do that.”
Pritzker and Trump have repeatedly clashed in latest months after the president deployed Nationwide Guard troops into Chicago underneath the guise of combating crime and strengthening immigration efforts.
Pritzker has slammed the deployment of troops to the Windy Metropolis, accusing Trump of turning the town right into a “war zone” amid the rise in immigration raids.
In the meantime, Trump has boasted that Pritzker ought to “beg” him for assist cracking down on crime in Chicago.
“I think he should beg for help, because he’s running a bad operation, and he’s letting people be killed in his city,” Trump mentioned. “I love Chicago. Chicago can be a great city again, and very quickly, I would have Chicago cleaned out and criminals removed. Pritzker should ask me to do it.”
Watch Pritzker’s look on “Straight Shooter” beneath.
