Kristi Noem blasts Pritzker’s influencer jab: ‘Spend energy defending people you’re responsible for’

Kristi Noem had earlier told JB Pritzker to 'grow up' and live in some of the communities affected by crime
PUBLISHED OCT 8, 2025
Kristi Noem slammed JB Pritzker during an interview with Fox News' Jesse Watters on Tuesday, October 7 (Getty Images, Screengrab/Fox News)
Kristi Noem slammed JB Pritzker during an interview with Fox News' Jesse Watters on Tuesday, October 7 (Getty Images, Screengrab/Fox News)


 

WASHINGTON, DC: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem blasted Illinois Governor JB Pritzker for telling her to stop "cosplaying a social media influencer" and "dressing up as a law enforcement officer."

Noem's response came during an interview with Fox News' Jesse Watters on Tuesday, October 7, when the host asked for her reaction to the governor's comment about her.

Kristi Noem blasts JB Pritzker for insulting law enforcement officers

Jesse Watters asked Kristi Noem on Tuesday, "You just heard the Governor call you a little girl playing dress-up. What do you say to that?"

"He keeps throwing out insults. I wish he would spend that energy defending the people he’s responsible for," Noem said.

She added, "That is not shocking to me about these leftist politicians, just how they ignore the people who elected them, jeopardise safety, and continue to insult our law enforcement officers."



 

"One of the things I have been dealing with here all day in Portland is a bunch of pansies that are elected at the political office," Noem mentioned.

She concluded, "I am proud of our federal law enforcement officers. They are absolutely rockstars in the face of this kind of opposition and we are continue to give them the resources they need to get the bad guys off the street."

What did JB Pritzker say about Kristi Noem?



 

During an interview with WCPT 820's 'Chicago's Progressive Talk', which aired on Monday, the host asked Pritzker's reaction to Noem telling him to "grow up" and "come live in some of these communities and neighborhoods being victimized by professional terrorists, cartels, and organized crime."

The Illinois Governor replied, "Grow up? She's the one cosplaying a social media influencer who's dragging with her cameras to catch her every move. She's dressing up as a law enforcement officer and jumping in as if she's trained to do any of this. She's not, and she shouldn't be part of this ... She's, in fact, ginning it up, causing problems."

Texas National Guard troops arrive in Chicago

The Texas National Guard troops arrived in the Chicago area on Tuesday, marking an escalation of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on the city.

Chicago witnessed a surge in immigration enforcement in the past few weeks, along with increasingly violent altercations in the suburb of Broadview, where law enforcement has been filmed deploying tear gas and pepper gas against protestors.



 

The deployment comes after April Perry, a US district judge, declined to immediately block troops from entering the city amid a pending lawsuit from the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago against the Trump administration’s actions.

Interestingly, Illinois officials have long condemned the Trump administration’s plans for a federal takeover.

Members of the Texas National Guard are seen at the Elwood Army Reserve Training Center on October 07, 2025 in Elwood, Illinois. The Trump administration has been threatening for more than a month to send the guard to Illinois to address Chicago's crime problem and to support ICE and CBP during Operation Midway Blitz. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has been outspoken in his opposition to the move, accusing the president of using the guardsmen as political pawns. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Members of the Texas National Guard are seen at the Elwood Army Reserve Training Center on October 7, 2025, in Elwood, Illinois (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Governor Pritzker earlier called on "all to stand up" to Trump in the face of the intervention during an interview with CBS News last month.

"Any kind of troops on the streets of an American city don’t belong unless there is an insurrection, unless there is truly an emergency," he said, adding, "I’m going to do everything I can to stop him from taking away people’s rights and from using the military to invade states."

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