‘Just inexcusable’: Stephen A. Smith blasts JB Pritzker for refusing Trump’s ‘help’ on Chicago crime

ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith on Wednesday criticized Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker for refusing to accept President Donald Trump’s assistance in cracking down on crime in Chicago.

Since Trump suggested on Aug. 22 that he would weigh sending the National Guard to combat crime in Chicago, Pritzker has continuously expressed opposition to the president’s offer. On “CUOMO,” Smith argued Pritzker was only resisting Trump for political reasons, calling it “inexcusable.”

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“When you look at Pritzker — right now, what you should be doing is this: ‘Excuse me, we gon’ get this together. I’m gon’ let the president do what he suggested. I’m gon’ get the help of the federal government to put a stop to this.’ He could say something that simple — but it would be giving the president credit,” Smith said. “It would be giving the other side credit.”

“And obviously, that’s where politicization kicks into play — because people are of that mindset thinking along those lines that it’s all about politics — because you don’t want to receive the obvious help that you need!” he continued. “It’s just inexcusable. There’s no doubt about it.”

Pritzker has held multiple press conferences asserting that residents don’t want the National Guard to help reduce Chicago’s crime rate. He said in a Tuesday presser that the city had already begun to tackle its crime issue by investing in measures like adding more law enforcement officers, mental health support and community intervention initiatives.

There have been 462 homicides in the city over the last 12 months as of Aug. 26, according to ABC7 Chicago. While the murder rate over that time period was lower than the yearly average of the previous three years, the frequency of homicides was still elevated compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Former President Barack Obama’s chief campaign strategist David Axelrod on “The Arena” Wednesday also advised Pritzker to collaborate with Trump on crime.

“I would be careful about playing 2028 politics on this issue because the right answer is, ‘We’ll take all the help we can get as long as it’s appropriate help, as long as it’s stuff that will really help.’ I mean, these National Guardsmen aren’t even trained to do that work,” Axelrod said. “They’re not authorized to do that work.”

“‘Send us the resources that we need. We want to work with you. If there are people doing violent crimes here who are illegal immigrants, we want them out of our city. We’ll work with you on that.’ I think that’s the appropriate position to take,” he added.

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