Illinois Democratic Lt. Gov accuses Trump of trying to 'manufacture a crisis' in Chicago

Illinois' Democratic Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton on Tuesday accused President Donald Trump of wanting to "manufacture" a crime crisis in the state's biggest city in order to justify sending the National Guard.

Trump confirmed that he would be deploying federal law enforcement to Chicago during an announcement at the White House, which comes after he activated the National Guard to help clean up crime in Washington, D.C. last month.

“This is not about public safety, and this is not about making our residents safer,” Stratton said during an appearance on CNN’s “News Central" TV show. “What Donald Trump wants to happen is he wants to manufacture a crisis.

“He wants to … inflame tensions, and he wants to make sure that he can cause some sort of crisis so that he can say that he’s coming to the rescue."

The Democrat claimed that there has been no coordination between the Trump administration and local law enforcement or even state leaders, the way she would expect there to be if the administration was serious about protecting residents.

“There’s been no direct communication with the governor — there’s been no coordination, not just with our administration, but with local law enforcement — and so, if this really is about what do we need to do to promote public safety and create safer communities, why would there not be coordination with our administration?” She asked.

Stratton's comments come after a violent weekend in Chicago where at least nine people were reportedly killed, and 52 others were injured over the Labor Day weekend, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Trump said on Tuesday that he would work with the governor to help clean up crime in Chicago if he was called, along with Maryland Democratic Gov. Wes Moore, to clean up crime in Baltimore.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.