Amid backlash, Pritzker calls for leaders — especially Trump — to tone down rhetoric

Gov. JB Pritzker said political leaders — starting with President Donald Trump — need to do more to condemn political violence.

“He actively fans the flames of division, as he did on Friday, regularly advocates violence for political retribution, and in more than one case, declares we are at war, not with a foreign adversary, but with each other,” Pritzker said. “I don’t believe any of that.”

Pritzker’s critique of the president comes after the governor faced backlash last week for immediately tying conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination to Trump’s rhetoric.

Speaking at a news conference in Chicago on Monday, Pritzker again criticized Trump for not doing more to call for peace after Kirk’s murder and said his death highlights growing anxiety in America over political violence.

“Political violence has increased substantially against both Republicans and Democrats,” Pritzker said. “Democracy is designed precisely to avoid political violence and its now incumbent upon leaders of all stripes to work together to stop it.”

Pritzker drew the ire of Republicans — and even calls for his impeachment — when he said last week that Trump bears responsibility for incidents of violence against politicians.

“Political violence unfortunately has been ratcheting up in this country,” Pritzker said, pointing to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. “It’s got to stop, and I think there are people who are fomenting it in this country. I think the president’s rhetoric often foments it.”

Rep. Adam Niemerg, a Republican from downstate Dieterich, filed an impeachment resolution against Pritzker following the comments. The resolution does not contain a legal basis for Pritzker’s impeachment, but says he “has engaged in conduct that, under the totality of the circumstances, constitutes inciting violence and that is incompatible with the duties of his office.”

“Pritzker’s remarks are providing legitimacy to radicals who are committing these heinous crimes against people like Charlie Kirk,” Niemerg said in a statement. “If it were one isolated incident — it would be one thing but there is a pattern here.”

Political violence has hit members of both parties over the last year, including two assassination attempts against Trump, an arson attack on Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home, and the murder of the former Democratic speaker of the Minnesota House and her husband as well as the shooting of another Democratic Minnesota lawmaker and his wife.

Pritzker said Trump failed to deliver a unifying message after Kirk’s murder as the president blamed Democrats for inciting violence.

“The radicals on the right oftentimes are radical because they don’t want to see crime,” Trump told Fox News on Friday. “The radicals on the left are the problem, and they’re vicious and they’re horrible, and they’re politically savvy.”

Pritzker said other previous presidents in both parties would have responded to Kirk’s murder with calls for peace.

“Real leaders offer words of solace and calm,” he said. “Except for one, every president in my lifetime has done this in the wake of political violence. They take action for positive change. They bring people together. They make Americans feel safe. They let them know violence is never the answer.”