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Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott mocked Illinois Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, calling him a “joke” for opposing his deployment of Texas Nationwide Guard troops to offer safety over immigration enforcement operations in Chicago.
In an interview with Fox Information Digital, Abbott stated, “Gov. Pritzker is a joke” and is in “violation of his oath of workplace” by making an attempt to intervene with federal legislation enforcement efforts to enhance security in Chicago and different Illinois communities.
Texas Nationwide Guard troops arrived in Illinois on Tuesday, tasked with defending federal personnel and property amid anti-immigration protests, the Pentagon confirmed. A Pentagon official stated 200 guardsmen have been mobilized for an preliminary 60-day interval.
Pritzker, a rumored 2028 Democratic presidential candidate and fierce critic of President Donald Trump, has condemned the Nationwide Guard deployment, calling it “Trump’s invasion,” and calling on Abbott to withdraw his assist. He has additionally threatened to tug out from the Nationwide Governors’ Affiliation if the bipartisan group doesn’t condemn the deployment.
ABBOTT DEPLOYS ‘ELITE TEXAS NATIONAL GUARD’ AFTER TRUMP CALLS FOR REINFORCEMENTS: ‘EVER READY’
Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, left, criticized Illinois Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, proper, for resisting his deployment of Nationwide Guard troops to Chicago. (Joshua Comins/Fox Information Photograph; Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP through Getty Pictures)
The state of Illinois, joined by town of Chicago, additionally filed a lawsuit in federal courtroom in an try to cease the deployment.
Talking with Fox Information Digital, Abbott stated that Pritzker’s actions are in violation of the U.S. Structure.
“You might recollect it wasn’t too way back that he put his left hand on a bible and raised his proper hand and swore to God that he would assist the Structure of the USA. Versus supporting it and permitting federal officers to implement federal legislation, he is violating the Structure, violating the oath that he took by interfering with the power of federal officers to conduct the chief department of the federal authorities,” stated Abbott.
PRITZKER SUES TRUMP TO BLOCK NATIONAL GUARD ACTION IN ILLINOIS
Texas Nationwide Guard troops assembled on the Military Reserve Coaching Middle in Elwood, Illinois, on Oct. 7, 2025. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/Tribune Information Service through Getty Pictures)
He stated that it’s “solely pure” Trump would name on his “elite Nationwide Guard to offer help wherever in the complete nation,” due to Texas troopers’ in depth expertise offering safety on the southern border.
“Texas has essentially the most confirmed, the most important, the best-trained Nationwide Guard in the USA of America,” he stated. “Individuals will keep in mind we had 1000’s of our Nationwide Guard securing the American border, the most important border state in the complete nation, greater than 1,200 miles, and it was Texas, versus the federal authorities below the Biden administration, that needed to step up and safe the border.”
“Now, as a result of now we have a president who’s lastly imposing the legal guidelines of the USA … it is solely pure by extension that if there is a want for that elite Nationwide Guard to offer help wherever in the complete nation, that it could be the Nationwide Guard referred to as upon,” he added.
Although Pritzker has denounced the deployment as an “invasion,” Abbott clarified that his troopers’ presence within the state is strictly to offer backup for federal officers who’ve just lately confronted intense opposition from agitators in Illinois.
“They supply a vital backup function to the Texas Division of Public Security. Proper now, they’re taking part in a vital backup roll to make sure the protection of federal officers whereas federal officers implement federal legislation in locations like Illinois, Oregon, and elsewhere,” he defined. “There’s unrest in areas the place ICE is making an attempt to function and the place ICE is making an attempt to implement the legislation. And what ICE or different federal officers want, they want security and safety as they go in regards to the strategy of finishing up their perform.”
WHITE HOUSE MOCKS ‘SLOB’ PRITZKER AFTER HE REJECTS TRUMP’S NATIONAL GUARD PLAN
Federal legislation enforcement brokers confront demonstrators protesting exterior an immigrant processing middle on Saturday in Broadview, Illinois. One protester allegedly threatened to kill federal officers. (Getty Pictures)
He went on to say, “It is rather essential that the general public perceive that these federal officers, they’ve a requirement to implement federal legislation. Anyone who interferes with that’s interfering with the power for federal officers to do their job.”
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“What the Nationwide Guard is skilled and expert at doing is coping with civil unrest like that,” stated Abbott. “Each time the nation is in instances of want, Texans will step up and assist out any manner we probably can.”
Fox Information Digital reached out to Pritzker’s workplace for remark however didn’t instantly obtain a response.
Fox Information Digital’s Alexandra Koch and Patrick McGovern contributed to this report.
