Amid backlash, Pritzker calls for leaders — especially Trump — to tone down rhetoric

Gov. JB Pritzker said political leaders — starting with President Donald Trump — need to do more to condemn political violence.

“He actively fans the flames of division, as he did on Friday, regularly advocates violence for political retribution, and in more than one case, declares we are at war, not with a foreign adversary, but with each other,” Pritzker said. “I don’t believe any of that.”

Pritzker’s critique of the president comes after the governor faced backlash last week for immediately tying conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination to Trump’s rhetoric.

Speaking at a news conference in Chicago on Monday, Pritzker again criticized Trump for not doing more to call for peace after Kirk’s murder and said his death highlights growing anxiety in America over political violence.

“Political violence has increased substantially against both Republicans and Democrats,” Pritzker said. “Democracy is designed precisely to avoid political violence and its now incumbent upon leaders of all stripes to work together to stop it.”

Pritzker drew the ire of Republicans — and even calls for his impeachment — when he said last week that Trump bears responsibility for incidents of violence against politicians.

“Political violence unfortunately has been ratcheting up in this country,” Pritzker said, pointing to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. “It’s got to stop, and I think there are people who are fomenting it in this country. I think the president’s rhetoric often foments it.”

Republicans angry

Rep. Adam Niemerg, R-Dietrich filed an impeachment resolution against Pritzker following the comments. The resolution does not contain a legal basis for Pritzker’s impeachment, but says he “has engaged in conduct that, under the totality of the circumstances, constitutes inciting violence and that is incompatible with the duties of his office.”

“Pritzker’s remarks are providing legitimacy to radicals who are committing these heinous crimes against people like Charlie Kirk,” Niemerg said in a statement. “If it were one isolated incident — it would be one thing but there is a pattern here.”

That pattern, according to Niemerg’s impeachment resolution, includes several speeches Pritzker has made this year starting with his February State of the State address when Pritzker drew comparisons to the rise of Nazis in Germany to Trump’s administration.

“I’m watching with a foreboding dread what is happening in our country right now,” Pritzker said in February. “The authoritarian playbook is laid bare here: They point to a group of people who don’t look like you and tell you to blame them for your problems. I just have one question: What comes next?”

Niemerg also claimed comments Pritzker made in New Hampshire in April calling for protests were an incitement of violence.

“Never before in my life have I called for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption,” Pritzker said in April. “But I am now. These Republicans cannot know a moment of peace. They must understand that we will fight their cruelty with every megaphone and microphone that we have. We must castigate them on the soap box and then punish them at the ballot box.”

Pritzker responded Monday that he has never called Republicans Nazis and has only called for peaceful demonstrations.

“We can be critical of one another,” he said. “We can belong to different political parties and have different views and act in a peaceful fashion. I have advocated that if one is to protest, they should protest peacefully.”

Changing the tone

Political violence has hit members of both parties over the last year, including two assassination attempts against Trump, an arson attack on Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home, and the murder of the former Democratic speaker of the Minnesota House and her husband as well as the shooting of another Democratic Minnesota lawmaker and his wife.

Pritzker said Trump failed to deliver a unifying message after Kirk’s murder as the president blamed Democrats for inciting violence.

“The radicals on the right oftentimes are radical because they don’t want to see crime,” Trump told FOX News on Friday. “The radicals on the left are the problem, and they’re vicious and they’re horrible, and they’re politically savvy.”

Pritzker said other previous presidents in both parties would have responded to Kirk’s murder with calls for peace.

“Real leaders offer words of solace and calm,” he said. “Except for one, every president in my lifetime has done this in the wake of political violence. They take action for positive change. They bring people together. They make Americans feel safe. They let them know violence is never the answer.”

Illinois Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, and Senate Republican Leader John Curran, R-Downers Grove, released a joint statement over the weekend condemning political violence and supporting democratic debate.

“We believe you should be able to participate in this process and engage in this debate without fear of harm or hate,” the leaders said. “We are here to tell you the Illinois Senate is united in whole-heartedly condemning violence, from any person in any circumstance.”

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.

Ben Szalinski

Ben joined CNI in November 2024 as a Statehouse reporter covering the General Assembly from Springfield and other events happening around state government. He previously covered Illinois government for The Daily Line following time in McHenry County with the Northwest Herald. Ben is also a graduate of the University of Illinois Springfield PAR program. He is a lifelong Illinois resident and is originally from Mundelein.