Gov. Ron DeSantis says only law and order can make Chicago great again. And he believes Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson are standing in the way.
“I see what’s going on in Chicago with the posturing of this Governor and this Mayor,” the Governor said at the Bay County Sheriff’s Office in Panama City, referring to local resistance to federal troops entering the city.
President Donald Trump has sent National Guard troops into Chicago, a move condemned by both Democratic elected leaders.
Pritzker has said the deployment represents an “authoritarian march.” Johnson, who signed an executive order ordering resistance to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said it represents a “war on Chicago.”
DeSantis, who believes the Joe Biden administration flouted immigration statutes and frustrated Florida’s zeal to combat the problem of illegal immigration, sees it differently.
“Now you have the federal government that’s actually enforcing what the laws say,” DeSantis said, in contrast to Democrats working to “sabotage enforcement” and “putting a target on the back of these officers.”
“You’re going to tell people to not do that, to not step up and help, especially when people’s lives are at risk, all because of political agenda and ideology?”
DeSantis then explained that in-migration from the city to Florida shows Chicago “has got a lot of problems.”
“Every time they do something stupid there, more people move here. Honestly, I want them to fix Chicago. Like, we have enough people that have come,” DeSantis said.
“When this Mayor got elected, I saw a flood of new people go to Naples and Southwest Florida, and they talk about … what the city used to be. Because it used to be one of the great cities anywhere. And what’s happened now and there’s a lot of reasons, but I’d say the most significant one was just a decline of public safety and the decline of supporting law enforcement, holding criminals accountable.”.
Before wrapping his remarks, DeSantis again cited “serious problems in Chicago with illegal immigration,” including “massive gangs, massive drug trafficking, a lot of bad stuff.”
Chicago critiques and monument defenses have been a big part of DeSantis’ rhetorical arsenal in recent years.
“You have a city going down the tubes and they elect somebody (Johnson) that’s going to put it down the tubes even faster. I can tell you this, Naples property values are going to be going up in the state of Florida,” the Florida Governor told the New Hampshire Republican Party in 2023, when he was beginning his campaign for President.
He made similar points in speaking to businessmen in Japan.
“Chicago used to be one of the greatest cities in America. It’s had huge problems and there’s really a major need to go a different direction, and they elect someone that’s going to keep going in the same bad direction at an accelerated pace,” DeSantis lamented.