Illinois’s Democratic governor, JB Pritzker, scorched Donald Trump’s administration on Sunday night, calling for “mass protests” and declaring that Republicans “cannot know a moment of peace” during a fiery speech in New Hampshire that immediately sparked presidential speculation.
“It’s time to fight everywhere and all at once,” Pritzker said to a ballroom filled with Democratic activists, officials and donors. “Never before in my life have I called for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption. But I am now.”
The billionaire heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune addressed more than 800 people at the New Hampshire Democratic party’s annual McIntyre-Shaheen dinner – a state traditionally crucial to the early cycle of presidential primaries and a launching pad for anyone with White House ambitions.
“These Republicans cannot know a moment of peace,” Pritzker said. “They must understand that we will fight their cruelty with every megaphone and microphone that we have.”
Pritzker’s appearance marked the first major foray by a potential 2028 presidential contender into an early primary state, though Pritzker insisted he remains focused on 2026 midterm elections.
Unlike some other Democratic governors who have adopted more piecemeal approaches toward Trump, Pritzker is now positioning himself as the standard-bearer for unflinching opposition, calling out both the president and fellow Democrats who advise moderation.
Many Democratic activists appear to align more with the Pritzker approach, as more than 1,000 protests across the US and Europe hit the streets at the beginning of the month specifically focused on calling out Trump. Protesters have been estimated to number in the tens of thousands in Washington alone.
Trump is now also sitting through cratering polls ahead of his 100 days in office benchmark tomorrow – the lowest approval rating for a new president in that time period over the last 80 years.
“Fellow Democrats, for far too long we’ve been guilty of listening to a bunch of do-nothing political types who would tell us that America’s house is not on fire, even as the flames are licking their faces,” he said. “We need to knock off the rust of poll-tested language, decades of stale decorum.”
The Illinois governor saved his sharpest attacks for Trump’s cabinet, describing the health and human services secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, as “a weird nepo baby who once stashed a dead bear in the back seat of his car” and the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, as “a washed-up Fox TV commentator”.
“Stop thinking we can reason or negotiate with a madman,” Pritzker told the crowd, adding that Republicans enabling Trump should “feel in their bones that when we survive this shameful episode of American history” their portraits will be relegated “to the museum halls reserved for tyrants and traitors”.
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Pritzker’s confrontational stance contrasts with potential rivals like the Michigan governor, Gretchen Whitmer, and the Pennsylvania governor, Josh Shapiro, who have advocated for bipartisan collaboration with Trump while representing pivotal swing states. Whitmer was photographed in the White House earlier this month, at one point hiding her face from the cameras.
His speech also comes as Democrats nationwide search for new leadership after Kamala Harris’s defeat in November, as it is still not clear if Harris will run again. Anne Caprara, Pritzker’s longtime chief of staff, told the New York Times that his approach stems from family history – his ancestors fled pogroms in Ukraine.
“What we’re seeing right now is 1930s Germany,” Caprara said. “The only way to actually stop that from happening is to be very loud and vocal about the pushback.”
