Jen Psaki Claims Crime In Chicago Is Down And Not In Any Way A Hellhole — 20,415 Shot Under Pritzker

Jen Psaki went on MSNBC and claimed crime in Chicago is “down” and that the city is “not in any way a hellhole.” She said:

“Yet again, that pretext is far from the reality. I mean, reality, as I was just saying with Chris, the overall crime has been dropping for four consecutive years in Chicago. Violent crime specifically has been dropping for a decade. But regardless of the reality on the ground, this week in the Oval Office, Trump called Chicago a hellhole. He said, quote, ‘we’re going in. I didn’t say when, but we’re going in.’ That’s literally what he said about Chicago. Now, we spent today in Chicago as I was just telling Chris. And what I can tell you most certainly is that it is not in any way a hellhole...”

But since Governor JB Pritzker took office in January 2019, Chicago has been drowning in bloodshed:

2019: 2,639 shooting victims

2020: 4,089 shooting victims

2021: 4,419 shooting victims

2022: 3,510 shooting victims

2023: 2,943 shooting victims

2024: 2,815 shooting victims

That’s 20,415 people shot under Pritzker’s watch. And under his leadership, shootings exploded—rising by 67% in just two years, from 2,639 in 2019 to 4,419 in 2021. Thousands are still being shot every year. Every single weekend, dozens of people are shot across the city—shootings have become tragically routine.

And that’s only part of the story. Other violent crimes have also remained persistently high:

Carjackings doubled between 2018 and 2022, with 1,650 vehicular hijackings reported in 2022.

Aggravated assaults hit a 20-year high in 2024, with 8,039 incidents, and aggravated batteries reached 9,132—the largest violent crime category increase that year.

Robberies and violent assaults peaked—July 2024 alone saw 801 robberies, marking five-year highs at that time.

Psaki isn’t a journalist—she’s a Democrat propagandist on fake news, pushing propaganda to cover for Democrats and their failed leadership. To say crime is “down” ignores the reality: shootings and violent crime surged dramatically after Pritzker took office and have stayed alarmingly high. Calling Chicago “not in any way a hellhole” isn’t just propaganda—it’s an insult to the thousands of families living with this violence every year.