Illinois Governor Says Trump Wanted to Trade Life-Saving Equipment for Praise on TV During Pandemic

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker (D) blasted President Donald Trump during remarks at the Center for American Progress this week.

Pritzker’s remarks and subsequent conversation with Neera Tanden, the president of the liberal think tank, made headlines as Pritzker went after Trump and later Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) for his vote to keep the government open by supporting the GOP spending bill.

Pritzker attacked Trump’s character and accused him of being a “kleptocrat” who is in government not to help Americans, but instead to help himself. He also accused Trump and his allies of viewing “people’s lives as a game” and recalled a story from the Covid-19 pandemic to illustrate his point.

Trump “could have fought for us. He really could have,” Pritzker said of the early days of the pandemic when masks and ventilators were in short supply for healthcare workers and patients.

“Instead, he made self-serving deals. He would send life-saving equipment if only we would agree to praise him on the Sunday talk shows. That is literally a deal that he put in front of me,” Pritzker said, adding:

I was desperate. My hospitals were filling up. And time was of the essence, so I agreed that I would do that if he sent me what we needed. Because my job at the time was to do virtually anything to get the White House to help us save lives. Needless to say, he never delivered for us. He never delivered for the American people. And Donald Trump proved who he really is in that critical moment.

Pritzker also struck an ominous tone and warned that American democracy is at a dangerous point, similar to where Hungary was as Viktor Orban slowly began to unwind institutions and chill free press and elections.

“Go read about Orbán and what he did steadily — not that slowly — to put the noose around that country. And Donald Trump admires him,” Pritzker warned during his remarks.

When asked about Schumer by reporters after the event, Pritzker said, “I disagree with what he did and vehemently so. But I also know that he has done good work as a Senate leader in other ways.” The potential 2028 presidential candidate also warned that “having an internecine war in the Democratic Party does not help anyone.”

Watch the clip above.