Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker did an interview on FOX News with Bret Baier this week and it did not go well. It was actually a perfect reminder that Democrats do not usually get challenged by journalists in the same way that Republicans do.
Baier wasn’t even that tough on Pritzker, he just confronted him with some inconvenient facts about his state and Pritzker fell apart.
The Gateway Pundit’s Jim Hoft covered their exchange:
Brett Baier: Does Chicago have the highest murder rate of all the big cities?
Governor Pritzker: Well, we are not in the top 30 in terms of our murder rate. Indeed, our murder rate has been cut in half over the last four years, and every year it’s gone down by double digits. If you look at all of the violent crime over the last four years, they’ve all gone down.
Brett Baier: Here’s a map. Most populous US cities, 17. 47 per 100,000 population. Chicago is number one over Philadelphia, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Phoenix, Los Angeles, New York, and Diego.
Governor Pritzker: What I’m explaining to you is when you want to fight crime-Now, you’re talking about violent crime. Look, you can pull statistics up. No, these are murders. I’m explaining to you that our murder rate has been cut in half.
Journalist Mark Halperin is among the people who were not impressed with Pritzker’s performance. He panned the governor on his 2Way show today.
Transcript via Real Clear Politics:
“It confirmed everything I think about his skill set. I just don’t understand why people are taking him seriously as a presidential candidate — except that he’s a billionaire. He did nothing to help himself in that interview. He was totally on defense, sputtering, vague, said a bunch of things that, when they’re fact-checked, will be proven wrong,” he said.
“And it was a high-profile interview; he went on there, they gave him a ton of time, and I just don’t get why, with his record and his communication skills, why he’s considered a serious candidate. And this interview confirmed that for me.”
“It wasn’t a disaster, but it was just a missed opportunity,” Halperin said. “If you’re going to go in and sit with Bret on set, kill it,” Halperin said.
Watch the clip below:
NEW: @MarkHalperin *HAMMERS* JB Pritzker after Fox News interview
“My loser of the week is Governor Pritzker.”
“He did nothing to help himself in that interview. He was totally on defense, sputtering, vague, said a bunch of things that, when they’re fact-checked, will be… pic.twitter.com/8hz6sX3zj6
— Jason Cohen (@JasonJournoDC) October 24, 2025
Pritzker won’t make it out of the 2028 Democrat primary. As a billionaire, he will be almost automatically disqualified.