Right from the jump and before most other Democrats, JB Pritzker realized a second Donald Trump presidency would be much worse than the first.
Now eight months after the election, Pritzker was right, as Trump seems far more focused on punishing domestic critics than on helping Americans.
Pritzker has long been a fierce Trump critic, and the billionaire governor of Illinois was unsparing in his initial post-election comments, warning against attacks on his state.
“To anyone who intends to come (to) take away the freedom and opportunity and dignity of Illinoisans, I would remind you that a happy warrior is still a warrior,” Pritzker said. “You come for my people, you come through me.”
In the months since, Pritzker has castigated Trump in speeches across the country and criticized “do nothing” fellow Democrats as too timid. His choice of words and venues has prompted speculation he might run for president in 2028.
Pritzker’s rhetorical passion can be seen and heard at Cap Times Idea Fest on Saturday night, Sept. 13. (Tickets for that day’s sessions, as well as weeklong passes, are available at captimesideafest.com.)
His marquee appearance will be moderated by the Washington Post’s Karen Tumulty, one of the nation’s most respected political columnists. At last fall’s Idea Fest, Tumulty interviewed Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic House speaker emerita.
Pritzker, 60, a two-term governor who recently announced he would seek a third term, is not easily categorized into one of the party’s two wings.
One is the progressive wing led by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, among others. Since Trump’s second election, they have been barnstorming against Trump and drawing big audiences even in conservative parts of the country.
The other wing is more moderate. Think Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, even Barack Obama.
A nationwide Sanders-AOC campaign this year was named the “Fighting Oligarchy Tour,” attacking the outsized influence of Trump-supporting billionaires like Elon Musk.
If Pritzker were not a progressive Democrat, he might be one of their targets, given that his net worth approaches $4 billion. His family owns the Hyatt hotel chain.
Jay Robert Pritzker (the “B” in “JB” is from his nickname, Jay-Bob) has lived most of his adult life in the Chicago area. He created several venture capital and investment firms before being elected governor in 2018 and reelected in 2022.
Long active in Democratic politics, he co-chaired Hillary Clinton’s 2008 national presidential campaign and helped to reconcile Clinton backers with Obama’s supporters in Illinois after Obama prevailed.
He has also been a major donor supporting Democratic candidates. This year, Pritzker donated $500,000 to the Wisconsin Democratic Party, which supported Dane County Circuit Court Judge Susan Crawford for the Wisconsin Supreme Court. She won by 10 points in what was technically a nonpartisan race.
Ben Wikler, who stepped down recently after leading the Wisconsin Democratic Party since 2019, is effusive in his praise of Pritzker, calling him a “champion and partner for Wisconsin Democrats throughout the last six years.”
Pritzker was the keynote speaker at last year’s Wisconsin party convention.
“He has donated generously and rallied others to support us, and he has traveled Wisconsin to fire up volunteers and kick off canvasses as elections drew near,” Wikler told me.
“After Roe’s repeal (the controversial 2022 U.S. Supreme Court abortion decision), he ensured that Wisconsinites could access reproductive care in Illinois,” Wikler added. “We’ll never agree about the Bears and the Packers, but Wisconsin Democrats have been lucky to have Gov. Pritzker fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with us in the battle for freedom, decency and democracy.”
Since Trump’s election, Pritzker’s unflinching attacks on him have drawn the attention of the national press.
“Pritzker Thunders Against ‘Do Nothing’ Democrats as He Stokes 2028 Talk,” read an April headline in the New York Times. Speaking to a group of New Hampshire Democrats, Pritzker had his audience poised to “storm the barricades” against Trump, reported the Times.
“It’s time to fight everywhere and all at once,” Pritzker told those Democrats, who stood, hooted and applauded. “Never before in my life have I called for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption. But I am now. These Republicans cannot know a moment of peace.”
New Hampshire holds the first presidential primary, which prompted more talk about Pritzker’s possible presidential run.
“Fellow Democrats, for far too long we’ve been guilty of listening to a bunch of do-nothing political types who would tell us that America’s house is not on fire, even as the flames are licking their faces,” Pritzker said in New Hampshire. “Today, as the blaze reaches the rafters, the pundits and politicians — whose simpering timidity served as kindle for the arsonists — urge us now not to reach for a hose.
“Those same do-nothing Democrats want to blame our losses on our defense of Black people and trans kids and immigrants, instead of their own lack of guts and gumption.”
Pritzker added: “Voters didn’t turn out for Democrats last November — not because they don’t want us to fight for our values, but because they think we don’t want to fight for our values. We need to knock off the rust of poll-tested language, decades of stale decorum. It’s obscured our better instincts.”
Washington Post columnist Perry Bacon Jr. cited the New Hampshire speech in suggesting that Pritzker could unify the party.
“He’s more clear-eyed about Donald Trump than many in his party,” Bacon wrote. At the start of Trump’s second term, Pritzker “was already anticipating that Trump would govern in an authoritarian way,” adding that “others in the party” now sound more like Pritzker did then.
Pritzker, Bacon noted, has championed traditional Democratic policies such as raising the minimum wage, protecting abortion rights, and banning assault weapons.
Progressive activist Ezra Levin summarized Pritzker’s appeal in the Times story: “The main divide in the Democratic Party is not between left and right — it’s whether you think this is a constitutional crisis or this is politics as usual. Pritzker is really demonstrating what it looks like to lead an opposition party against the overreaching authority of the federal government.”
Sounds like someone whose message might resonate in Madison.
