Pritzker's Trump posture ramps up 2028 chatter

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) is positioning himself as one of President Trump’s loudest critics within the Democratic Party, stirring more speculation around his own future political ambitions.

Pritzker used a speech in New Hampshire last month to attack Trump and his administration, describing the president as someone “who claims to love America but who hates our military” while also calling out the “do-nothing” members of his party.

Pritzker further dialed up the heat this week when his campaign announced it would roll out a video series seeking to show how the Trump administration has negatively impacted Illinois residents.

The moves have only heightened the profile of Pritzker, who has increasingly been seen as a likely 2028 contender, but also come as the party remains divided over how to take on Trump.

“I think it's a one-two punch,” said Ray Buckley, chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party.

“He not only takes on Trump, he also lays out an effective message that we support our values, we stand up for our values, that we speak for those who need a voice, we don't leave anybody behind,” he continued.

Pritzker has been a fixture in Democratic politics even before he became governor, but it’s been his vocal criticism of Trump, coupled more recently with his prescription to Democrats on how to take on the president and Republicans in Congress, that has made him stand out in the party and further elevated his profile.

During his State of the State address in February, he suggested there were parallels between the current political moment and the initial moments leading to Nazi Germany.

He ramped up those attacks more recently when he used his speech at the New Hampshire Democratic Party’s McIntyre-Shaheen 100-Club Dinner to criticize members of Trump’s Cabinet and reporting that Trump had referred to members of the military as “suckers” and “losers.”

His campaign released the first video of a larger series showcasing Illinoisans negatively impacted by Trump, and during an interview on late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel’s show this week, Pritzker described Trump as an “authoritarian.”

Pritzker’s February address and speech in New Hampshire, in particular, angered Republicans. Illinois GOP Chair Kathy Salvi in a statement described his remarks as “inflammatory and dangerous speech,” while White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller suggested they “could be construed as inciting violence."

Pritzker said earlier this week his speech “has nothing to do with violence” and said Miller was taking his speech out of context.

Pritzker’s team says the Illinois governor’s posture toward Trump is neither new nor inauthentic. Jordan Abudayyeh of Pritzker’s campaign said the governor “knows what to expect from Donald Trump,” noting that Pritzker was first elected during the latter half of Trump’s first term in office. She mentioned as an example how the Trump administration sent the governor’s team the wrong supplies for the state to battle the COVID-19 pandemic after Pritzker had offered Trump praise on the media circuit.

“It's not like the political winds shifted, and now JB Pritzker has decided this is a lane he's carved out,” she said.

“In this moment is very much a person who spent his life working with Holocaust survivors to build the Holocaust Museum,” she said. “He is a student of history, and he feels very deeply that there is a moral obligation for those who work in leadership positions to speak up in these moments, because when history looks back at us, people are going to ask what you said in those moments and what you did.”

Some argue Pritzker is dialing into a rhetoric that clearly resonates with Democrats around the current political environment.

“He's meeting the Democratic base where it is,” said Alex Conant, a Republican strategist who worked on Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s 2016 presidential campaign.

“The Democratic base is outraged by Trump, and Pritzker wants to tap into that,” he added.

At the same time, Conant suggested he didn’t believe Pritzker’s rhetoric drawing parallels between the lead-up to Nazi Germany and the current political moment would appeal to most Americans and believed “he's saying the sorts of things he feels like he needs to say to break through.”

Meanwhile, some Democrats are lamenting that too few members of the party are aggressively going after the president.

“Taking the fight to Trump should not be considered bold within the Democratic Party,” Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. “It should be the norm or the bare minimum.”

The party has remained at odds over how to handle Trump and his administration. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), who initially positioned himself as a vocal critic of Trump and who has largely been floated as a 2028 contender, has since made overtures to the president as the governor looked to secure disaster relief for the Los Angeles wildfires.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D), another potential 2028 hopeful, has made several appearances in the White House or alongside Trump, walking a fine line between criticizing him and working with him when needed. She appeared alongside him this week and scored a win with the announcement of a new fighter jet mission at a Michigan air base.

Even Hill leadership has remained torn at times over how to handle Trump. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) ignited a firestorm within his party in March after he and other Senate Democrats helped Republicans proceed with a GOP-backed continuing resolution to fund the government, a reversal after Schumer had said the party would not be supporting Republicans’ government spending bill.

Meanwhile, progressive populists Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) have been amassing large crowds in their “Fighting Oligarchy” tour, which has channeled anti-Trump energy.

“In the last few months, the main divide in the Democratic Party has … not been between left and moderate. It's between those who are bold fighters and those who are passive and not living up to the moment,” Green said.

While Democrats like Pritzker’s take-it-to-Trump approach, some wonder if the Illinois Democrat is the party’s best messenger, seeing as he himself is a billionaire.

“Him attacking Trump, sure, it can work now, but in a … presidential primary, I've never seen Democratic primary voters really warm up to a very, very wealthy candidate in that regard,” said Ben Tulchin, a Democratic pollster whose clients have included Newsom and Sanders during his presidential campaigns.

Pritzker’s team believes the Illinois governor is able to bridge that gap with voters, saying his values match his record. 

Abudayyeh noted legislation signed that raised the state minimum wage to $15 and his efforts to try to pass a graduated state income tax, though the ballot measure failed in 2020.

Some progressives believe Pritzker’s wealth could even be an asset as he makes the case against Trump.

“Gov. Pritzker could make himself stand out if he models FDR’s example of being a traitor to his class and uses his billionaire status as extra credibility to criticize Elon Musk and other billionaires calling the shots and looting the American people under Trump's government,” Green said.