Gov. Pritzker: ‘This Is Not a Moment To Walk Away’

As Donald Trump amasses power wherever he can, governors have a unique role to play in standing up to the wannabe dictator. 

In an interview with Democracy Docket founder Marc Elias, Gov. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois (D) explained why the fight matters. 

“I feel like this is not a moment to walk away. When you’re in the middle of a fight you gotta finish the fight. You gotta stand up, and I have to protect the people of my state the best I can,” Pritzker told Elias. 

When you’re in the middle of a fight you gotta finish the fight.

Pritzker’s fight for democracy is personal. His family emigrated from Ukraine during the pogroms in the 1800s, he said. They arrived in the United States “with nothing and didn’t speak the language.” 

“What this country did for my family and the fact that we’re able to live free and in a democracy where collectively we make choices, not by some dictator, is worthy of note. And certainly what motivates me in part to react as I do to Donald Trump and to what the Republicans are doing in simply allowing him to breach the Constitution,” Pritzker said. 

As Americans observed last week, Republicans are certainly allowing Trump to get what he wants — even if it means betraying their own constituents. On Thursday, Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which will rip health care and food assistance from the country’s most vulnerable families. 

Pritzker said that Democrats will do what they can to mitigate the damage, but “people are going to die because this bill passes and Donald Trump will be proudly signing it so he can give again a massive tax break to wealthy people in this country.”

Despite the setbacks our country is facing, Pritzker still has optimism and hope for the United States. 

“How lucky was my family to come to this country and just have an opportunity? What a great place that we live, and we have to preserve that.” 

How do we preserve that version of our country? By fighting for it, speaking out and renewing ourselves. Pritzker believes we will be able to grow from this period in history as we have “proven the ability to do it for 250 years.”