Pritzker, Illinois Dems say Trump’s Iran threat crosses a line, call for his removal

Gov. JB Pritzker and several Illinois members of Congress called for President Donald Trump to be removed from office under the 25th Amendment Tuesday following a lethal threat to Iran’s population.

“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” Trump said on social media. “I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” should Iran fail to meet his Tuesday night deadline to make a deal that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

“This is not foreign policy, it’s a deranged mad man threatening to wipe out an entire country,” Pritzker posted on X. “It's past time. The 25th Amendment must be invoked.”

Democratic U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Schaumburg said “Vice President JD Vance and the Cabinet must immediately invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office.”

“This latest threat is not an isolated incident, but part of a dangerous pattern of reckless escalation, erratic decision-making, and general conduct that raises grave questions about his fitness to discharge the duties of the presidency,” Krishnamoorthi said in a statement.

U.S. Reps. Mike Quigley of Chicago, Jan Schakowsky of Evanston and Lauren Underwood of Naperville also called for the 25th Amendment to be applied.

Quigley argued Trump had “reached a new level of unhinged — threatening to blow an entire country off the planet,” in a statement.

“Someone this unstable, whose behavior endangers the nation, shouldn't remain in office,” Schakowsky posted.

Trump did muse that “now that we have complete and total regime change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS?

“We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the world. 47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran.”

Tehran’s representative at the U.N said the threats “constitute incitement to war crimes and potentially genocide.” Amir-Saeid Iravani said Iran would “take immediate and proportionate reciprocal measures” if Trump launches devastating strikes, The Associated Press reported.

Meanwhile, Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Bost of downstate Murphysboro posted that Trump had made it clear reopening the Strait of Hormuz was critical to global security and energy stability.

“He and his administration have worked tirelessly to find a peaceful path forward. The ball is now in Iran’s court, and I pray they make a decision that prevents further escalation in the region,” Bost said.

U.S. Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Hoffman Estates asked on X if there was “no limit to what Republicans will allow this unhinged, unwell man to do? Congress must come back to Washington to rein in this dangerous behavior immediately.”

And U.S. Rep. Bill Foster of Naperville said in a statement that Trump “openly threatening to wipe out an entire civilization is nauseating and un-American. This is precisely why our Founding Fathers gave Congress the authority to declare war.”