On Friday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “The Briefing,” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson stated that the Trump administration is focusing on Chicago for immigration enforcement and crime “because there’s clearly a disdain for working people.” And the actions aren’t about crime, but the Trump administration is “working to, not only divide communities, but conquer them.”
Host Jen Psaki asked, “Clearly, Chicago is, like, in the craw of Trump, because there are two threats against Chicago coming from the administration right now. One is this big immigration crackdown. The other is Trump’s threats to deploy the National Guard over crime. What does that say to you about their motivations and the fact that they’re targeting your city?”
Johnson answered, “Well, it’s because there’s clearly a disdain for working people. Instead of the federal government and the president of the United States of America focusing in on how we can drive unemployment down in our communities, how we can make sure that people can put food on their table, and to ensure that every single child has access to a high-quality education, he has done the opposite of that. He has, again, sown seeds of division and working to, not only divide communities, but conquer them. What we’re doing in Chicago is working. I’ve made critical investments in employment, particularly our young people. Over 31,119 young people had summer jobs, a 50% increase since I’ve taken office. I’ve expanded mental and behavioral health care services. We’re on pace to build 10,000 affordable units by the end of my first term. And we’ve revamped our entire detectives bureau so that we can actually hold people accountable. And, as a result of those investments, homicides are down 32%, shootings, shooting victims are down nearly 40%, robberies are down nearly 35%, vehicular carjackings are down almost 50%. There is more work to do, don’t misunderstand me, but what I know what works is that, when you invest in people, and, particularly, communities that have been historically locked out of opportunities, that’s how we build safe and affordable communities, not just across Chicago, but across America.”
Johnson added that Trump’s actions are not about crime and Trump “does not want another election.”
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