At this point, Chicagoans need to start gathering signatures to put Chance on the ballot for mayor.

In a new interview with The Undefeated, Chance and the Chicago Bulls’ Jimmy Butler discussed the state of the city and the current political climate.

Speaking about Trump’s comments on the need for federal troops to occupy Chicago, Chance said, “I’m tired of niggas talkin’ about Chicago like it’s a Third World country. Like, that it’s not a place of booming business with a very successful downtown and all types of new development. It’s like he was announcin’ he was going to war with Chicago. I don’t like to look at shit through that lens.”

Chicago’s current mayor, Rahm Emanuel, who suppressed the Laquan McDonald shooting footage during his last election campaign and who has faced criticism in his city for his handling of its affairs said recently that he wasn’t sure why Trump felt Chicago needed any help. “That’s not for me to answer. You should ask your colleagues out in Washington,” Emanuel said in response to a reporter’s question about the matter. 

Chance went on the say that he hopes that Trump won’t send in troops, but will instead, “from a federal level help out with the teacher’s strike and the union issues,” and that he doesn’t “like to think [Trump] meant what he said.”

Let’s all hope Chance was right, and also that his words can influence DeVos and Trump to look past Chicago’s violence to focus on the economic and educational issues at the root of the murder rate. (And also, that Chance will run for mayor — we were serious about that.)