Former Republican Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger said Monday that President Donald Trump is promoting “safety and security” by moving toward authoritarianism.
Trump deployed the National Guard in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 11 and is looking to possibly make a similar effort in Chicago. Kinzinger, one of nine Republican lawmakers who voted to impeach Trump in January 2021, compared the president’s takeover of the district to the book 1984, saying a soldier could be placed “every square mile” to reduce crime.
“Is that what we want to live in, where you just occupy every city because of so-called crime? That is how dictators come to power. It’s how authoritarians come to power on the backs of that, of safety and security,” Kinzinger said on CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper.
Kinzinger also said Trump is trying to “look tough” with his crime crackdown. He shared Gov. JB Pritzker‘s (D-IL) sentiment in keeping Trump out of the state, saying he’s “not invited.”
Kinzinger shared his comparison of Trump’s crime cleanup to the novel 1984 on X on Monday, adding more comparisons to modern-day North Korea and Nazi Germany.
Putting the military on the street will lower crime. It does in North Korea, did in Nazi Germany, and in the book 1984.
The question isn’t will it lower crime. The question is do we want to be a nation governed like this. Until 6 minutes ago the GOP believed in LOCAL control.
— Adam Kinzinger (Slava Ukraini)
(@AdamKinzinger) August 25, 2025
CHICAGO MAYOR REPEATEDLY DODGES QUESTION ABOUT WHETHER MORE POLICE WOULD MAKE CITY SAFER
Trump told reporters Monday he “really” wants to be “appreciated” for his National Guard deployment. He also called Chicago “a killing field right now,” saying this is not being acknowledged.
The president is also looking to clean up crime in Baltimore, Maryland, threatening to pull funding to rebuild the city’s Francis Scott Key Bridge.