Pritzker Thunders Against 'Do Nothing' Democrats as He Stokes 2028 Talk

Pritzker Thunders Against ‘Do Nothing’ Democrats as He Stokes 2028 Talk

In a fiery speech in New Hampshire, the Illinois governor railed against both President Trump and what he called the “simpering timidity” among some Democrats.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/27/us/politics/jb-pritzker-2028-new-hampshire-trump-democrats.html



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“It’s time to fight everywhere and all at once,” he told the group of Democratic activists, officials and donors, who jumped to their feet with hoots and applause. “Never before in my life have I called for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption. But I am now. These Republicans cannot know a moment of peace.”

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His speech was a call to action more aggressive and comprehensive than perhaps any other by a major liberal figure since Mr. Trump took office, rivaled only by rallying cries from Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York on their Western tour. But unlike them, Mr. Pritzker set his stem-winding address in a state with a century-long hold on the nation’s first presidential primary contest — a striking statement on its own.

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He has done so as some congressional Democrats, including Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader, have urged their party to be selective with their attacks against the president to avoid alienating independent voters who supported him. Mr. Pritzker, by contrast, wants his party to adopt a posture of zero accommodation.

“The main divide within the Democratic Party is not between left and right — it’s whether you think this is a constitutional crisis or this is politics as usual,” said Ezra Levin, a co-founder of the progressive activist group Indivisible. “Pritzker is really demonstrating what it looks like to lead an opposition party against the overreaching authority of the federal government.”

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Mr. Pritzker standing at a lectern as he speaks, with attendees at the Democratic dinner standing up and clapping.
During his speech, Mr. Pritzker criticized what he called “do-nothing” Democrats who “want to blame our losses on our defense of Black people and trans kids and immigrants instead of their own lack of guts and gumption.”Credit...John Tully for The New York Times

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Lisa Lerer is a national political reporter for The Times, based in New York. She has covered American politics for nearly two decades.

Reid J. Epstein covers campaigns and elections from Washington. Before joining The Times in 2019, he worked at The Wall Street Journal, Politico, Newsday and The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
See more on: Democratic Party, U.S





Quote from the speech that says it all: "Voters didn’t turn out for Democrats last November — not because they don’t want us to fight for our values, but because they think we don’t want to fight for our values, we need to knock off the rust of poll-tested language, decades of stale decorum. It’s obscured our better instincts.”