Pritzker declared that President Donald Trump as well as his administration are “an affront to every value this country was founded upon.” 

“Never before in my life have I called for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption — but I am now,” he added. “These Republicans cannot know a moment of peace. They have to understand that we will fight their cruelty with every megaphone and microphone that we have. We must castigate them on the soapbox and then punish them at the ballot box. They must feel in their bones … that we will relegate their portraits to the museum halls reserved for tyrants and traitors.” 

Pritzker, who has served as the governor of Illinois since 2019, has been rumored to be a contender for the 2028 presidential election, got slammed by Donald Trump Jr. on X for the comments, who wrote, “Are you trying to inspire a 3rd assassination attempt on my dad? Two wasn’t enough for you?” 

When he was asked about his ambitions for the White House, Pritzker said his comments were supposed to inspire more effort for Democrats in the 2026 midterm elections, per the New York Post.

“This is about winning in 2026 for Democrats all across the country, because we’ve got to take the Congress back if we’re going to stop Donald Trump in his tracks,” the governor said. “We’ve got to be out in the streets now and making our voices heard in order to win in 2026 – if we don’t win in 2026 I’m fearful that they’re going to take away so many voting rights from so many people that won’t vote for Donald Trump that indeed will be completely iced out in 2028 and have no chance at all.”