Chicago’s Democrat mayor Brandon Johnson once again showed why his city is spiraling out of control. Faced with President Trump’s blunt assessment that Chicago has become a national embarrassment — and his pledge to send in federal agents and the National Guard if necessary — Johnson responded not with solutions, but with excuses. In a bizarre tirade, the mayor blamed Trump, Republicans, and even red states for Chicago’s decades-long crime crisis.
The controversy began after Trump hinted at which city might be next in line for federal intervention. “Chicago is a mess,” he said. “You have an incompetent mayor, grossly incompetent, and we’ll straighten that one out probably next.” Trump noted that residents of Chicago were “screaming” for help and that the crime epidemic “won’t even be tough” to fix once real leadership steps in.
Rather than accept responsibility for his city’s staggering lawlessness, Johnson deflected. Speaking on September 2, he tried to pin Chicago’s record-setting violence on everyone but himself, claiming the problem isn’t his failed policies but supposedly lax gun laws in Republican-led states.
“We need the federal government to stop the endless flow of guns into our state and into our city,” Johnson declared, before rattling off statistics about how many firearms Chicago police had seized. But the numbers, while large, only underscore the obvious: guns aren’t the problem — criminals emboldened by weak leadership are.
Johnson doubled down, insisting that “the vast majority of guns” in Chicago come from places like Indiana, Mississippi, and Louisiana. In other words, he wants Americans to believe Chicago’s gang violence is Indiana’s fault, not the product of Democrat policies that handcuff police, coddle criminals, and drive law-abiding residents out of the city in droves.
He then lashed out at the very idea of deploying the National Guard to restore order. “Occupying our city will do nothing to solve this problem,” Johnson scoffed, dismissing Trump’s plan before blaming the president again for supposedly allowing firearms into Chicago.
The mayor concluded his rant with more finger-pointing: “Chicago will continue to have a violence problem. As long as red states continue to have a gun problem, shootings will continue. As long as this presidential administration continues to put politics over people.”
It was a telling statement. Johnson has been in office for more than a year, and violent crime remains sky-high. Carjackings, shootings, and murders continue to plague residents while businesses flee the city. Instead of cracking down on gangs, Johnson spends his time attacking law-abiding gun owners hundreds of miles away. Instead of admitting that “defund the police” policies have been a disaster, he clings to the fantasy that criminals are victims of circumstance.
President Trump has made it clear: Chicago doesn’t have to live this way. With leadership willing to back law enforcement and restore order, America’s third-largest city could finally be safe again. But as long as Brandon Johnson stays in charge, Chicago will remain a tragic example of what happens when ideology is put above public safety.
