Pritzker claims country under Trump worse than COVID pandemic where people died 'in droves'

"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. If you think I'm overreacting and sounding the alarm too soon, consider this: It took the Nazis one month, three weeks, two days, eight hours, and 40 minutes to dismantle a constitutional republic," Pritzker said in February 2025. 

"And you know, people on the right attacked me and said, 'How dare you? How dare you?' People on the left were quiet and didn't back it up. Now, what do you know? Twelve months later, well, a lot more people anyway among Democrats are saying, 'Yeah, this feels like Germany in the 1930s.' And of course, Republicans just won't own it," Pritzker told the "I've Had It" hosts.

"I'm flattered, I am, and that people have talked about it," he said. "And I honestly have not been able to answer that question because I don't know. I'm running for re-election as governor, and it's an unusual thing, because, in Illinois anyway, even though we have no limits on the number of terms that you can serve, it's very unusual for anybody to run for a third term as governor. I think I would be the second person ever to do that."

The governor said that he was deeply concerned about the country, and planned to use the platform he has to speak out about it.

After the interview, Welch called Pritzker a billionaire that's willing to say, "Tax me more."

"J.B. Pritzker is an incompetent governor who has repeatedly rejected President Trump's generous offer to address the crime crisis in his state," White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told Fox News Digital. "Instead of lying in media interviews and deluding himself into believing he has chance of becoming president, he should focus on fixing his state and do his job."