Illinois governor to Democrats: ‘Time to stop surrendering, when we need to fight’

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker railed against the “Looney Toon Republican Congress” and included jabs at both President Donald Trump’s trade representative and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis – but his speech was mainly directed at his fellow Democratic leaders.

“The reckoning,” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker told a room full of revved up Democrats in New Hampshire on Sunday night, “is here.” Appearing in the first presidential primary state ahead of what’s expected to be a major 2028 Democratic nomination cycle, Pritzker railed against the “Looney Toon Republican Congress” and included jabs at both President Donald Trump’s trade representative and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — but his speech was mainly directed at his fellow Democratic leaders. Too many of them have been wrong and out of touch about what the Democratic Party should stand for and about the threat Trump poses, Pritzker charged, calling for an end to “the culture of timidity” and for the “do-nothing” crowd to step aside. “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. 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,” he said. “Meanwhile, if we took care to listen to the voices of real people, we would hear our neighbors and friends standing on the street outside screaming for a response, one big enough for a five-alarmer.” Pritzker called for attention not to the internecine political fights that have consumed many in the party non-stop since November, but to the stories of people who have been most affected by Trump’s moves, and who are making their own efforts to fight back.