OLYMPIA, Wash. — October 9, 2025:
Washington Governor Bob Ferguson criticized former President Donald Trump in a social media post Thursday, calling his recent statements threatening to jail elected officials “as authoritarian as it gets.”
Ferguson’s comments came in response to a post from Trump suggesting that the Chicago mayor and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker “should be in jail for failing to protect ICE officers.”
In his own post, Ferguson said, “Attorney General Bondi recently threatened to put me in jail. Now, the President has threatened to put the Illinois governor and Chicago mayor in jail. This is about as authoritarian as it gets.”
The exchange highlights escalating tensions between Trump and several Democratic officials nationwide as he continues to issue statements targeting political opponents.
Ferguson, who has frequently clashed with Trump administration policies in the past, has positioned himself as a staunch defender of democratic institutions and state autonomy.