Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker claimed that he never called President Donald Trump and Republicans “Nazis,” but several tapes of the governor show he did indeed invoke the fascist regime.
Pritzker denied during a Monday press conference that he had ever called Republicans “Nazis,” though he has compared Trump, tech billionaire Elon Musk and the Republican Party as a whole to Nazi Germany. The rhetoric from himself and many other political leaders has come into question following the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk by an individual who subscribed to left-wing and transgender ideology.
“No, I have not. That is completely false. I have never called Republicans Nazis. That’s what [Republicans] would like to say, they’re lying. They’re lying,” Pritzker said. “Well, that’s not what I called them.”
During a Feb. 28, 2025, appearance on “The View,” Pritzker said that Trump has been “tearing down constitutional democracy” in the same way that Adolf Hitler did during Nazi Germany. He also repeatedly stated that the Trump administration’s supposed dismantling of a “constitutional republic” mirrored Nazi Germany.
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Ahead of the 2024 election, Pritzker wrote in an Oct. 23, 2024, X post that Trump “praises and romanticizes” Hitler and was a “dictator-in-waiting.”
“The way Donald Trump praises and romanticizes Hitler is unhinged, disturbing, and disqualifying. He is a dictator-in-waiting. We know exactly what he’ll do if he’s in power again. It cannot happen,” Pritzker said.
The way Donald Trump praises and romanticizes Hitler is unhinged, disturbing, and disqualifying. He is a dictator-in-waiting. We know exactly what he’ll do if he’s in power again. It cannot happen. https://t.co/t3ruw2B6nc
— JB Pritzker (@JBPritzker) October 23, 2024
Pritzker also said during an April 28 appearance on “Inside with Jen Psaki” that Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration is similar to the rights that the Nazis took from people in the 1930s.
The governor compared the rhetoric used by Trump and the “MAGA extremists” to the Nazis’ rhetoric during an interview with MSNBC’s Jen Psaki in December 2023.
“The rhetoric that’s being used by Donald Trump, the rhetoric that is being used by some of the MAGA extremists is rhetoric that was used in the 1930s in Germany. I am very concerned about the direction of the country if we see policies like what Donald Trump is espousing come to light for our country.”
Pritzker also pushed the narrative that Elon Musk used a Nazi salute to tell a crowd that his heart went out to them during the inauguration celebration for Trump on Jan. 20. When Musk poked fun at Pritzker’s weight on X, the governor responded to him by saying he salutes hot dogs instead of Nazis.
“I salute @TheWienerCircle, not Nazis,” Pritzker said on January 29.
I salute @TheWienerCircle, not Nazis. https://t.co/JFNoBvN807 pic.twitter.com/Y3zArkieE5
— JB Pritzker (@JBPritzker) January 29, 2025
During his Monday press conference, Pritzker called on Trump to condemn political violence in the aftermath of Kirk’s assassination. He also invoked the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot on Sept. 10 and blamed Trump for the surge in political violence.
The suspected assassin, Tyler Robinson, subscribed to left-wing ideology and became “more pro-gay and trans-rights oriented,” authorities said on Tuesday.
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