Does Chicago have the highest murder rate in the US? Elon Musk accuses JB Pritzker of lying about "an obvious fact"

Elon Musk has just called out JB Pritzker, claiming that the Illinois governor "flat out lied about an obvious post". In a new tweet posted on Thursday night (October 23), the Tesla owner retweeted a clip from an exclusive Fox News interview of Pritzker. 

JB Pritzker just flat out lied about an obvious fact https://t.co/GpqAulmQxu

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 24, 2025

Reporter Bret Baier was the host on the show, asking the governor about the reason behind Chicago having the highest murder rate among all big cities. In response to Baier, Pritzker said:

"Well, we are not in the top 30 in terms of our murder rate. Our murder rate has been cut in half over the last four years, and every year it's gone down by double digits. And if you look at all of the violent crimes over the last four years, they've all gone down."

As JB Pritzker was speaking, Bret pulled up a map of the US with the statistics about the murder rate in the country's most populous cities.

Of the nine cities mentioned on it, Chicago had the highest murder rate - which is 17.47 per 100,000 people. 

Pritzker, who remained adamant about his stance, continued: 

"Look, you can pull statistics up. I am explaining to you that our murder rates has been cut in half. And, very importantly, Bret, we've been doing the things that are necessary to bring them down. We've invested in community violence interruption, we've invested in police."

While the statistics displayed on the Fox News program claims Chicago to have the highest murder rate among all the US cities, its violent crime rates have been falling, BBC reports.

In 2024, FBI recorded 540 violent crimes per 100,000 people. This figure, while it might seem high by itself, witnessed an 11% decrease from 2023. 

FBI data also reveals that in terms of violent crime, Chicago was ranked towards the bottom on the list of cities with most violent crimes in the US - 29th out of 37 cities.

Cities that held the top positions on it include Memphis, Detroit, Baltimore, LA, New York, and Washington DC. 

FBI's analysis includes homicide, r*pe, aggravated assault, and robbery in violent crimes. ​

Trump accused JB Pritzker of not protecting ICE, claimed he should be "in jail"

JB Pritzker's defense of the murder rates in Chicago comes weeks after the governor was threatened with imprisonment by Trump.

The president called Pritzker and Brandon Johnson out in a Truth social post earlier this month (on October 8), writing:

"Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice. Governor Pritzker also!"

However, Pritzker appeared undeterred by Trump's threats, shrugging off his comments at a rally in downtown Chicago and even calling him a "coward". He added:

"He's demented, literally; unhinged. This is somebody who is so insecure that he lashes out pretending that he can come arrest people for no reason at all. He can't. He isn't going to do it. TACO – Trump always chickens out."

Meanwhile, Mayor Johnson also criticized Trump, calling him "unstable, unhinged, a double-minded individual" and accused him of being a threat to democracy.