Nikki Budzinski (2025)

Illinois Democratic Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski is criticizing a plan by President Donald Trump to send National Guard troops to Chicago to fight crime. On the latest episode of the Politically Speaking podcast, Budzinski said Trump’s threats to send troops under the guise of fighting crime is a distraction from the president’s woes. “I think that this is a manufactured crisis by this administration, I would argue, perhaps to distract from political issues like Jeffrey Epstein or the fact that he made a commitment also on day one to reduce the costs of groceries, and he's failed to do that,” she said.