SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WLS) — Gov. JB Pritzker is getting attention on the national stage for speaking out against President Donald Trump.
The governor’s budget address Wednesday included some blistering attacks on the president.
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But how much does it have to do with Pritzker’s future political ambitions?
Experts on both sides of the aisle are providing some insight Thursday.
“Pritzker said that only a fool would believe that emergency response during a natural disaster, education, and healthcare for disabled children should be eliminated,”
The governor never seems to miss an opportunity to take on Trump, and his budget speech was perhaps his most vociferous attack to date.
“I do not invoke the specter of Nazis lightly,” Pritzker said. “I’m watching with a foreboding dread what is happening in our country right now.”
Lisa Duarte served as first deputy governor under Pritzker during his first term, and is now CEO of Point of Difference Strategies.
“JB Pritzker is the leading voice right now on, especially in the gubernatorial role, in Democratic politics against Donald Trump,” Duarte said.
Pat Brady is a former Illinois Republican Party chairman.
He said Pritzker’s speech was aimed at Democrats in Springfield and across the country.
“Brady from Be Media commented that the speech is effective not only in Illinois but also nationally as President Trump is very unpopular in the state, which helps to energize his supporters. With a challenging budget cycle ahead, Trump will need the support of all Democrats, and one way to do this is by criticizing him,”
“Following his speech, Pritzker shared a poll regarding Trump’s popularity, once again fueling speculation about the governor’s potential presidential aspirations.”
“He’s got to get through a primary if he wants to go nationally, but he’s also got to have a broader appeal. He can’t run the Democrats, I think, right now, are struggling with, what’s their message? What do we stand for? Because, just standing against Trump hasn’t worked,” Brady said.
“We don’t have kings in America, and I don’t intend to bend the knee to one,” Pritzker said.
Pritzker’s anti-Trump messaging on full display during his budget speech is not expected to change anytime soon.
Trump’s success in his second term could be a factor in Pritzker’s future political plans.
“If they fail, that’s going to create that opportunity. And I think that that is where the governor is looking for that opportunity to be, to be standing in that gap and saying, ‘Hey, we can pull a little from each side and maybe change over the composition of the House, and potentially from there, look forward to a Democratic president,'” Duarte said.
Pritzker said in his speech that his criticism of Trump had nothing to do with his own political ambitions.
But, they do help elevate his national standing, and his comments resonate with his Democratic base.
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