FNC’s Bret Baier challenges Pritzker for denying Chicago has the highest murder rate of largest US cities

Fox News anchor Bret Baier confronted Gov. JB Pritzker, D-Ill., over Chicago’s murder rate on Wednesday.

During an exclusive Fox News Channel interview, Baier and Pritzker clashed over the murder rate in his city. The anchor brought out research data to contest the governor’s on-air claim that Chicago isn’t even in the 30 American cities with the highest murder rates.

"Well, here’s a map –– most populous U.S. cities: 17.47 per 100,000 population. Chicago is number one over Philadelphia, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Houston, Phoenix, Los Angeles, New York, and San Diego," Baier told Pritzker.

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Gov. JB Pritzker, D-Ill.,  and Fox News anchor Bret Baier clash over Chicago's homicide data. (Breaking Tonight/Fox News Channel)

Baier began by discussing a Fox News crime map showing which of the top most populated U.S. cities have the highest murder rates.

"Why does Chicago have the highest murder rate of all the big cities?" he asked.

Pritzker replied by disputing that claim.

"Well, we are not in the top 30, in terms of our murder rate," he said. Baier tried to go into the data, but Pritzker kept talking.

"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 crime over the last four years, they’ve all gone down," he said before Baier cut him off and read off Chicago’s number one ranking on his map.

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Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker speaks at the office of The Center for American Progress event March 18, 2025, in Washington, D.C.  (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

According to a report from Illinois research nonprofit, Wirepoints, Chicago had the highest total number of murders in 2024 compared to all major U.S. cities in 2024, with 573 people killed that year alone. New York City came in second with 377, and Houston followed with 322 that same year.

Among all major U.S. cities for that year, the research group found that Chicago’s rate of 21.5 homicides per 100,000 people placed it at number six. The number one spot was St. Louis with 52.9 homicides per 100,000.

St. Louis is a much smaller city, which is why its murder rate was higher than Chicago’s in 2024, despite having five times less the number of total murders. The Missouri capital saw 149 murders in 2024.

Though, like Baier’s data showed, the group noted that Chicago’s murder rate was the highest among the top 20 largest U.S. cities in 2024.

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Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson speaks during a press conference in Chicago, Illinois, on August 25, 2025.  (KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

On Fox, Bret replied to Pritzker’s assertion that Chicago wasn’t even in the top 30 cities in terms of murder rate, suggesting the governor was talking about a different metric altogether.

"Now, you’re talking about violent crime," the anchor said. 

Pritzker attempted to dodge the point, saying, "Look, you can pull statistics up, I can too."

Baier shot back, "No, no, no, these are murders."

The governor replied, "I’m explaining to you, our murder rate has been cut in half and –– very importantly Bret –– you gotta hear this: very importantly, we’ve been doing the things that are necessary to bring crime down."

Chicago Police preliminary data revealed that Chicago’s total number of murders from Jan. to Aug. 2025 is one-third lower compared to the same period last year.