By: John Clark
NEW YORK, N.Y. (WTVO) — Illinois Gov. Pritzker has not yet announced whether he will seek a third term, but did raise his national profile Friday with an appearance on ABC’s “The View.”
Pritzker has emerged as one of the Democrats’ most vocal opponents of President Donald Trump, fueling speculation that he may run for the country’s highest office in 2028.
He was under consideration to be former Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate in 2024.
Pritzker has also done numerous interviews on national broadcasts since Trump was sworn in. In addition, he organized a late January call with Democratic governors and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer.
DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick announced Thursday he was going to run for the Republican nomination for Illinois governor in the March 2026 primary.
Pritzker has taken flack for drawing parallels between President Donald Trump’s political agenda and the rise of Nazi Germany during his State of the State budget speech last week.
“It took the Nazis one month, three weeks, two days, eight hours, and 40 minutes to dismantle a constitutional republic. All I’m saying is when the five-alarm fire starts to burn, every good person better be ready to man a post with a bucket of water if you want to stop it from raging out of control,” he said.
“The View” co-host Joy Behar asked Pritzker to clarify his remarks, to which he replied, “I’m not suggesting that we’re heading all the way down that path, but I am suggesting that it should be like ‘red alert’ everybody. We should all wake up.”
Pritzker also condemned a recently passed House Republican budget, which has a stated goal of cutting $2 trillion from the federal budget over the next decade.
While the budget proposal does not mention cutting Medicaid specifically, it tasks the Energy and Commerce Committee to find $880 billion in savings, something a New York Times analysis found would come up $600 billion short without cuts to healthcare programs.
Republican lawmakers have proposed removing Medicaid match rates and implementing per capita grants, which require the federal government to match what states spend on payment.
Pritzker warned that cuts to Medicaid could result in a funding hole for states to fill.
“They’re going to take away Medicaid from millions and millions of people, in my state 770,000 people will lose healthcare, and those are the people who need it the most,” Pritzker said on “The View.”
“Donald Trump, on the campaign trail, and even now, says ‘Oh, I’m not going to take away Medicaid.’ He says, ‘Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, I’m not taking those away.’ Meanwhile, he blessed the House plan that takes away Medicaid. So, that’s the thing: I think most people may not know he’s is lying over and over again. So people have to wake up.”
Pritzker and various members of the Illinois congressional delegation have sent a letter to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to demand accountability for $1.88 billion in federal funding being withheld from the state.
