Illinois billionaire Governor JB Pritzker tried unsuccessfully to paper over Chicago being crowned the United States' murder capital in a Fox News interview.  

Appearing on Special Report alongside Bret Baier, the Democrat heir to the Hyatt Hotels fortune was grilled by the anchor over why the city had the highest murder rate out of all the major US cities. 

'Why does Chicago have the highest murder rate?', Baier asked, with Pritzker saying: 'We're not in the top 30.'

Fox then cut to a map marked up with official FBI murder statistics for the most populous US cities, showing there were around 17.5 murders for every 100,000 people in the Windy City in 2024 - more than anywhere else. 

Pritzker clawed for a positive figure to counterbalance the grim finding, saying: 'Our murder rate has been cut in half over the last four years, and every year it has gone down by double digits.'

Referring to the map, Baier said: 'Chicago is number one over Philadelphia, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Phoenix, Los Angeles, New York and San Diego.'

Pritzker fired back: 'You can pull statistics up, I can too. I am explaining to you that our murder rate has been cut in half. 

'Very importantly Bret, we've been doing the things necessary to bring crime down. We've invested in community violence interruption, we've invested in police.'

The data used on air also highlighted how in 2024 there were 539.8 instances of violent crime per 100,000 residents in the city. 

There was also 3,472 property crimes per 100,000 residents, with a total of 4,012 crimes for every 100,000 residents in 2024, according to the report. 

President Donald Trump used the figures when he referred to the Windy City as 'the murder capital of the world' earlier this year. 

There was some substance to Governor Pritzker's insistence that Chicago is improving, with the 188 homicides recorded between January and June 33 percent fewer than the total for the same period in 2024.  

This year is the first since 2014 that fewer than 200 murders were recorded in Chicago during the first six months of the year. 

In a press release dated August 25, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson also said shootings had dropped by 38 percent.