February 10, 2025 - 7:30pm
As a beleaguered Democratic Party grapples for ways to mount effective opposition to an ever-more assertive Trump administration, one governor has taken the lead in demonstrating how it may be done. It is not Californiaâs Gavin Newsom, whose need to work with the President on disaster relief has muted his earlier posturing. Rather, the title of âResistance governorâ could go to Illinoisâs JB Pritzker. Like Trump, heâs a billionaire-turned-politician with national ambitions; and aside from antics such as renaming Lake Michigan âLake Illinoisâ and threatening to annex Green Bay, heâs been in the news for efforts to counter key items in the agenda of Trump 2.0.
As the flashy governor of the largest and most conspicuously liberal state, Newsom had been most likely to play the part of âResistance governorâ. The Californian was a staunch critic of Trumpâs border wall, calling it âpure political theatreâ. In 2019, he said: âA 2,000-mile wall is a monument to stupidity. Not just vanity, to stupidity.â Shortly after last year’s presidential election, Newsom took a stand against the President, saying: âDonald Trump has a playbook […] If our American values and freedoms are attacked, we will not stand idly by.â
But that role is not available to him as he acknowledges a âhierarchy of needsâ and realises the importance of palying nice with the administration in order to secure disaster relief. Pritzker, as the head of another prominent reliably Democratic state, has a chance to take that mantle, raise his profile, and write the template for a blue-state anti-Trump playbook â credit for which might come in handy in 2028.
On migration, Pritzker has vowed âto stand in the wayâ of the administrationâs deportation orders. He makes a distinction between migrants who are violent criminals, whom he agrees ought to be sent back, and those âlaw-abidingâ illegal migrants. This may be a contradiction in terms, but it’s one which carries some weight with significant portions of the American public, including some of Trumpâs own Latino voters.
Pritzker, like many other Democrats, and even some Republicans, does not wish to see members of the undocumented population without criminal records swept along in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids. In opposing this, the Illinois Governor could be on to something, but he risks tipping his party back over into the Biden-era âopen bordersâ stances that cost it dearly in 2024. He will also have to contend with an anti-sanctuary lawsuit from Trumpâs administration.
On Trumpâs January 6 pardons, Pritzker is similarly closer to public opinion: he condemned the move and barred those pardoned from state jobs. Yet his âtough-on-crimeâ stance is seemingly at odds with the state parole boardâs own record in freeing violent offenders early and without oversight, for which the governor has taken heat.
Pritzker has also objected to DOGEâs efforts to shrink the size of the federal bureaucracy by offering its workers hefty compensation packages. âFederal employees [are being asked] to give up their legal rights, agree to a vague severance, and just hope for the best,â he said. âItâs insulting.â This makes sense practically: the federal government happens to be Illinoisâs largest employer after the state government, with 40,000 civil servants based there. The governorâs response, however, reinforces the image of Democrats as reliant on a bloated, non-competitive public sector to generate jobs, a particularly resonant criticism in a state like Illinois, where machine-driven patronage has a long and storied history.
At a time when both parties are accusing the other of abetting âoligarchyâ, Pritzker â a scion of the Hyatt hotel dynasty â certainly does nothing to reassure his partyâs Left flank on that score. But he is not shy in using state government to push for policies that align with progressive priorities, whether on border enforcement or public sector privileges. In the words of new DNC chair Ken Martin, Pritzker is one of the âgood billionairesâ.
Democrats will wonder, though, how progressive their agenda can really be if it is being led by an âactual billionaireâ. The visibility of Pritzker as a leading anti-Trump Democrat â and possible 2028 contender â raises more uncomfortable questions for the party than it answers.
1TrueCuencoism
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SubscribeAs a socially conscious and enlightened progressive that identifies as being on the Right Side of History, I’ve always felt term “Billionaire” is more of a mentality than an objective accounting of assets and net worth. Yes it’s true that Democrats are aided by more billionaires than Republicans but this doesn’t really tell us anything.
Republicans favor low taxes and less government intervention. You know who else likes low taxes and limited regulation? Anybody that runs a business…a group that includes billionaires!
This is conclusive proof that Democrats have rightfully attained a permanent monopoly on referring to all political opposition as “Tools of the Oligarchs.”
The stupidest voting cohort in American history can easily be traced back to the DOEducation creation. The ignorance comes in grades 1-12. The “false beliefs” originated around the same time as the DOE creation, through legacy media “Personalities”. The viewers had no rebuttals from American History, Western Civ or Civics classes.
I believe if we rolled the Governor sideways we could pick up strikes on both those very important lanes.
Spelling error in paragraph three: ââŠpalying niceâŠâ â playing nice, not âpalyingâ nice, right?
It really hinges on how much rot is exposed and how many become aware that both parties ignored their interests for so long, and given the chance, will do again.
DOGE may yet fail. Big government is going to fight, and fight dirty.
Quite aside from that, I laughed out loud at his video gag.
Cannot remember the last time anyone anywhere in the progressive tribe displayed genuine good humour, instead of snarling and /or sniggering. We desperately need humour.
Morbidly obese Pritzker is a metaphor for his stateâs, Illinoisâ, bloated and out of control spending.
Exactly, the article misses the financial disaster that is Illinois, Cook County and Chicago. Let alone the nonsense in the City of Chicago with crime and homelessness. Prtizker is clueless and will get crushed on the national stage when the time comes
Looking at the photo I suspect he’s odds on for a thrombo before the next election!
Or OzempicâŠ
I am sure he will do wonderful things, if he manages to get his huge a*se off the chair.
The Pritzkers are big donors to the Dems and were to Obama who rewarded one with a position; Obama then became the father behind the birth of transgenderism across the west with his bathroom bill. They also include a transwoman, cousin to JB, who has worked hard to embed transgenderism in society including support for a group campaigning for self-ID in Illinois.
Don’t forget Tom, the ‘friend of Jeffrey’…
Pritzker is the perfect choice! An obese billionaire, who was born into the lucky sperm club and whose state has only survived financially due to the massive amount of Covid money it received by the Biden Administration. People are leaving in droves before taxes are raised yet again to keep the sinking ship afloat a while longer. The illegal aliens in Chicago can keep the progressive flame burning. It’s a wonderful story to tell….until other people’s money runs out.
Wait until Pritzkerâs links with the gender ideology are put on the forefront. He will become Democratsâ biggest liability.
Vitrue signaling at its best! We will see how Gov Resistance feels when he is placed in Federal Custody and is charged and prosecuted in a Federal Court. He certainly is talking the talk, will he walk the walk? Hi might initially but he will fold like a cheap suit. Can’t wait.
He’s going to have to lose 50 pounds to be a credible national figure.
If Pritzker is in favor of deporting illegals who commit felonies here or their home country, why isn’t he handing those criminals over to ICE when it’s time to release them from state prison or county jails?
If Pritzker cares about Illinois residents why are Black Americans of Chicago showing up at city hall demanding state and city police help ICE?
If Democrats care, why is the Chicago mayor forcing the Chicago Public Schools to borrow millions to feed, clothe and house illegals? Spritzer could stop that anytime he wanted.
Ah, yes. Whatâs more inspiring than a corpulent, self righteous, billionaire narcissist?
We haven’t had a truly great President since WH Taft: 338 lbs. of solid Chief Executive. Pritzker gives me hope.
Shut churches and barber shops while leaving marijuana dispensaries open during Covid (as if the hippies won). Marched with BLM activists while his wife vacationed in Florida and Wisconsin during Covid. Passed aggressive and now challenged State Police-run gun registration laws. Passed No Cash Bail laws. Watched over largest outmigration in Illinois history. Subject of Pritzker Sucks yard signs in remaining conservative parts of the state. A true icon.
Pritzker and Newsom have some similar problems. Both of their states are fiscal disaster areas with huge budgetary deficits, taxes and crime so high that businesses and residents are fleeing in droves, plus bloated and unresponsive/incompetent state bureaucracies that are noted for their soft-on-crime policies.
Those features actually would fit well with the national Democratic agenda and track record. I, for one, would love to either of them as a Dem nominee in 2028:-)).