‘You come for my people, you come through me’: Pritzker says state fortified against Trump policies
Gov. JB Pritzker pledged Illinois is ready to withstand any retribution on issues such as immigration and reproductive rights from Republican President-elect Donald Trump.
Noting he’s been called a “happy warrior,” Pritzker said during press availability Thursday that “anyone who intends to come take away the freedom and opportunity and dignity of Illinois, I would remind you that a happy warrior is still a warrior.
“You come for my people, you come through me.”
There’s been no love lost between the former president and the governor, whose scorn amplified over Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis and the overturn of Roe v. Wade. Trump, who was reelected Tuesday, meanwhile has commented on social media that Pritzker has destroyed Illinois.
Pritzker noted Illinois enshrined a woman’s right to an abortion in the state Constitution after Trump appointees on the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The General Assembly also affirmed workers’ and LGBTQ rights, and environmental protections, he said.
“Chaos, retribution and disarray radiated from the White House the last time Donald Trump occupied it. Perhaps this time may be different. But if it isn’t, Illinois will remain a place of stability and competent governance,” Pritzker said.
“Illinois has remained a place where rights are protected and that everyone can call home.”
Asked if the state could lose federal aid for projects like O’Hare International Airport or CTA Red Line construction, Pritzker said he expected that funding to continue and that future grants would be administered impartially.
“It would be illegal for Trump to stop those grants from flowing in,” Pritzker said, adding the state would take legal action if that happened.
It’s been speculated that Pritzker is ready for a presidential run.
However, “the work that I do now as governor is work I love doing and in the wake of Tuesday’s election, I think back to my first days in office and the first two years when Donald Trump was president and we had to defend Illinois against a lot of policies Trump was imposing.
“I think that work is going to continue. I have no plans for anything else.”
Pritzker also addressed Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss to Trump.
With little over 100 days to campaign, “that’s an extraordinarily short amount of time. She did an extraordinary job of making it as competitive as she could,” he said.