Attorney General Pam Bondi testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. (Win McNamee / Getty Images)
By Joe Saunders October 7, 2025 at 11:22am
Attorney General Pam Bondi wasn’t backing down.
In a confrontation Tuesday with Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, the head of President Donald Trump’s Justice Department took on the Illinois lawmaker’s grilling over deployments of the National Guard to his home state.
And she made it hit home.
.@AGPamBondi cooks @SenatorDurbin: “I wish you loved Chicago as much as you hate President Trump — and currently, the National Guard are on the way to Chicago. If you’re not going to protect your citizens, President Trump will.” pic.twitter.com/4CoNdH5w4p
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) October 7, 2025
During an occasionally heated hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Durbin tried to pry into Bondi’s discussions with the Trump White House about the legality of Trump sending National Guard units to take action in Democrat-government states as part of a national crackdown on illegal immigration and crime.
Bondi cut him off with cold professionalism.
“I’m not going to discuss any internal conversations with the White House,” Bondi said.
Should Trump have sent the National Guard to Chicago?
When Durbin pressed, the attorney general repeated the line.
“I’m not going to discuss any internal conversations with the White House with you, Chairman … Ranking Member,” she said.
Still, Durbin persisted, implying there was some “secret” Bondi was refusing to divulge about administration plans to deploy the Guard “in my state.”
Then Bondi let loose, reminding Durbin that while his party has provoked a government shutdown, federal agents who are in actual danger in Chicago won’t be seeing paychecks, though congressional salaries are unaffected.
“You voted to shut down the government, and you’re sitting here,” she said. “Our law enforcement officers aren’t being paid. They’re out there working to protect you.
“I wish you loved Chicago as much as you hate President Trump,” she said. “And currently, the National Guard are on the way to Chicago. If you’re not going to protect your citizens, President Trump will.”
It was a line that was almost certainly prepared — possibly even rehearsed. But it touched a nerve on social media.
I usually tune the Dem Senators out because they infuriate me, but these clowns are in a panic and Bondi is savage.
— Vallygirl_369 (@cowart_val65) October 7, 2025
thank you @AGPamBondi for putting this old fool straight!!
— Sharon Clark (@SharonC30893592) October 7, 2025
Thank you @AGPamBondi ! This Chicagoan welcomes the National Guard to my city! @SenatorDurbin is an absolute disgrace and has no love for this city!
— Sonia P (@skylar_04) October 7, 2025
Moments later, as Durbin asked about other topics, Bondi returned to the Guard going to Chicago. His entire questioning session is below:
“Your city has a murder rate five times higher than New York,” Bondi said. “Five-hundred-and-seventy-one homicides last year. If you were serious about protecting your people, you would be asking this administration for help.
“You’re saying that we’re coming into your state and your city? We’re there to help make America safe and Illinois safe, whether or not you want to.”
The Guard deployment wasn’t the only ground Durbin’s questioning covered — he hit on Bondi’s views on the Qatari government’s offer to give a new jet to Trump to serve as a new Air Force One, as well as, of course, documents related to the deceased sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein.
But Bondi didn’t give ground there either, and they aren’t likely to be the topics that are remembered out of this exchange.
What’s almost certain to be remembered, though, is Bondi’s slam at Durbin.
This clip will be played a lot.
— Paul A. Szypula 🇺🇸 (@Bubblebathgirl) October 7, 2025
As one veteran social media commentator put it, “This clip will be played a lot.”
Joe has spent more than 30 years as a reporter, copy editor and metro desk editor in newsrooms in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Florida. He’s been with Liftable Media since 2015.
Joe has spent more than 30 years as a reporter, copy editor and metro editor in newsrooms in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Florida. He’s been with Liftable Media since 2015. Largely a product of Catholic schools, who discovered Ayn Rand in college, Joe is a lifelong newspaperman who learned enough about the trade to be skeptical of every word ever written. He was also lucky enough to have a job that didn’t need a printing press to do it.
Birthplace
Philadelphia
Nationality
American
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