AP Photo/Mary Altaffer
President Donald Trump called for the jailing of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker.
A sitting president, demanding that elected officials be imprisoned. Let that sink in.
Over their objections, he federalized troops from Texas to enforce his will. This is not theater. It is not a tweetable grievance. It is an unprecedented assault on constitutional norms, federalism, and the rule of law. And yet, the media’s reaction in certain circles will almost certainly be muted. And it absolutely should not be — and cannot be.
Trump made the stunning but straightforward announcement on Truth Social Wednesday morning, writing “Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers! Governor Pritzker also!”
Americans have become numb. Numb to insults. Numb to threats. Numb to authoritarian theater masquerading as politics.
But the media cannot afford to become numb. And yet, they unquestionably have — to at least some degree. Outrage has become a commodity, recycled endlessly in clickbait form. And now, when a president targets the leaders of a major city and state for political retribution, many in the press treat it like just another news cycle. It is not. It is existential.
The legal stakes are stark. Federal troops on state soil without the governor’s consent? That triggers the Posse Comitatus Act. That tests the Insurrection Act. That should make lawyers, historians, and journalists sit up straight. But too often, it doesn’t. Too often, it is background noise.
Trump’s threat is more than personal theater. It is a blueprint for the normalization of authoritarianism. It is a public declaration that elected officials can be bullied, criminalized, and intimidated for political reasons. And the media, conditioned by years of performative outrage, risks failing to signal just how dangerous this is.
This is a moment for moral clarity. The story is not a tweet. It is not a viral clip. It is a crisis in the balance of power between citizens and their government. It is about whether American democracy can withstand a president willing to weaponize the military and threaten imprisonment to achieve political goals.
Bipartisan alarm is not optional. The media must insist on framing this properly. Reporters must explain why this is not politics as usual, why it is not a rhetorical flourish, why it is a breach of constitutional norms. Headlines like “Trump Ramps Up Rhetoric” or “Chaos in Chicago” do a disservice to readers and viewers. The public deserves context. They deserve clarity. They deserve a sense of the stakes.
History will judge how journalists respond. Will we recognize this for what it is—a direct assault on the democratic order—or shrug and move on? Trump’s call to jail Governor Pritzker and Mayor Johnson is not just a provocation. It is a warning. It is a test of the media’s courage.
And make no mistake: the alarm should be loud. The alarm should be unmistakable. Because if the press cannot sound it, who can?
The post Trump’s Threat to Jail Elected Officials Is a Constitutional Alarm the Media Can’t Ignore first appeared on Mediaite.
