Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker is running for president. Actually, he’s been running for president since before he took office in 2019. To prove how serious he is about his ambitions, Pritzker came down in weight from 320+ lbs. to about 250. He’s still fat enough that Elon Musk cracked wise on X, “Nothing is more dangerous than getting between JB Pritzker and the buffet table!”
It’s not so much his weight that might stand in his way to the White House. Pritzker has signed some of the most radical legislation in America on health care, guns, taxing the rich, and abortion. He’s the overwhelming favorite in early polling among progressives and his massive personal wealth could help him buy the Democratic nomination.
One thing Pritzker has to do is nip the budding Democratic civil war. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer voted in favor of the Continuing Resolution (CR) that funded the government through September, and the radical left is incensed about it.
Calls are growing for Schumer to step down from his leadership position, but Pritzker did not join those calls.
“Look, he’s the elected leader,” Pritzker told reporters after a sit-down at the Center for American Progress in Washington. “I disagree with what he did and vehemently so. But I also know that he has done good work as a Senate leader in other ways.”
During the event, Pritzker sought to calm the storm over Schumer’s vote by saying, “Having an internecine war in the Democratic Party does not help anyone.” He said he hoped Schumer would “stand up for the values” they share.
Pritzker praised Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth for voting “no” on the CR and didn’t mention the state’s senior senator, Minority Whip Dick Durbin, who voted with his boss Schumer.
“Those [Democrats who voted yes] want the same things that [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] and I want,” he said. “Which is, we’ve got to overcome what we see as the crumbling of a constitutional republic and the taking away of services from people who matter.”
This isn’t the first time Pritzker has questioned Schumer’s strategy. Pritzker and other Democratic governors had pushed Schumer earlier this year to unite Senate Democrats in opposition to Donald Trump. Schumer’s decision to join Republicans in advancing a funding bill — despite nearly all House Democrats, and most Senate Democrats, opposing it — threatens to tear open a rift between Democratic leaders over the party’s strategy in the second Trump presidency.
Center for American Progress CEO Neera Tanden repeatedly called Pritzker a “fighter” in her introduction to the event, the first in a high-profile series of interviews with Democratic figures that the think tank tends to hold between campaign cycles and is an early indicator of movers and shakers in the party.
“Gov. Pritzker does not cower to bullies,” said Tanden, a veteran Democratic political consultant who recently returned to the Center for American Progress after a stint in former President Joe Biden’s administration.
The Illinois pension system is a dilapidated mess. “Total unfunded liability for the state’s five pension funds is about $140 billion. The pension systems are about 46% funded of total anticipated costs,” reports The Center Square.
Before Pritzker is put in charge of Social Security, someone should bring up his mismanagement of the Illinois pension funds as an example of his “leadership.”
Your favorite PJ Media writers are working hard to bring you the best opinions and news in the business. Support us by becoming a VIP Member! We’re giving you a 60% discount on VIP memberships with the promo code “FIGHT.” Click here to join and receive your discount.
