Illinois governor says Trump will try 100%
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker is among his fellow Democrats who believe President Donald Trump will try “steal” the 2026 elections.
Appearing on Stephen A. Smith’s SiriusXM Show “Straight shooter” On Thursday, Pritzker and Smith discussed Trump’s decision to deploy National Guard troops and ICE agents to Democratic-led cities, including Chicago, in recent months.
After the sportscaster asked Pritzker why he thinks Trump is repositioning federal workers from agencies like the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to work in agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Pritzker launched the theory that Trump will try to “take over the ballot box” using military force.
“I’ll tell you what my theory is on this,” Pritzker began. “And I think I’m right, which is… because he’s been talking about this for a while. Let’s go back to 2020, when he said the election was stolen from him. It wasn’t like that.”
Pritzker argued that it was [Trump’s former U.S. national security adviser] Michael Flynn who gave the president the idea to “take over the ballot box with the military.”
“AND [Trump] He repeated it, that maybe they should just take over the ballot boxes with the military. Maybe they should go to where the ballot boxes are and then count the votes themselves,” he continued.
Pritzker went on to state that now, in 2025, Trump “is becoming more unpopular” and the political leader will attempt to use military force because “he is likely to lose the 2026 election.”

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“He is sending troops to American cities and particularly to blue states, in blue cities, to put them on the ground and get us used to the idea of having military on the ground,” he added. “I think so because then he’ll say, ‘Well, I’m going to go protect our polling places in Illinois.’ And then if he loses the election, I mean, Congress, frankly, will just take over the ballot box.”
Smith then asked Pritzker to clarify whether he was claiming 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 in 2020 and would do it again,” Pritzker responded. “Yes, I think he’s shown that he’s willing to do that.”
Pritzker and Trump have clashed repeatedly in recent months after the president deployed National Guard troops to Chicago under the guise of fighting crime and strengthening immigration efforts.
Pritzker sharply criticized the deployment of troops to the Windy City, accusing Trump of turning the city into a “war zone” amid increased immigration raids.
Meanwhile, Trump has boasted that Pritzker should “beg” him for help fighting crime in Chicago.
“I think he should ask for help, because he’s running a bad operation and he’s allowing people to be killed in his city,” Trump said. “I love Chicago. Chicago can be a great city again and, very quickly, I would clean up Chicago and get rid of the criminals. Pritzker should ask me to do it.”
Watch Pritzker’s appearance on “Straight Shooter” below.
MAGA does‘your mom’jokes
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