If asked about the most likely candidate for the Democrat presidential ticket in 2028, California Governor Gavin Newsom comes to mind. It’s no surprise. Newsom is attracted to a TV camera like a mosquito is to a lightbulb. But Newsom has plenty of baggage of his own, including the fitting stereotype that he’s the worst kind of politician. As Hot Air’s David Strom writes, Newsom “is exactly what Hollywood would cast as a sleazy, slimy, greasy, well-dressed, and perfectly coiffed phony grifting politician.”

While there’s no doubt Newsom’s setting his sights on the White House, the equally radical and dangerous governor of Illinois isn’t pulling any punches in promising what his administration might look like if he’s elected president. JB Pritzker’s been in the news fighting to protect the criminal class on the streets of Chicago, refusing to protect federal immigration officers from doing their jobs, and now threatening them.

“The tables will turn someday,” Pritzker warned. “These people should recognize that maybe they’re not going to be prosecuted today, although we’re looking at doing that. But they may get prosecuted after the Trump administration … because the statute of limitations won’t have run.”

Let that sink in. The first act of a Pritzker administration might be prosecuting ICE officers for taking illegal alien rapists, child molesters, and violent criminals off the streets of Chicago. Then again, this is the same governor who said it was an “amazing summer” after more than 100 people were murdered in the city. No accountability. No recognition of the problem in the first place.

Meanwhile, his own people don’t feel safe going outdoors. That’s a crime in and of itself, and the victims once again are the people of Chicago and Illinois. “There were 591 homicides in Chicago in 2024, according to CPD data,” Fox News reports. “Chicago had the highest number of homicides of any U.S. city in 2024, according to the FBI.” The situation is so serious that President Donald Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, causing Democrats to go into fits of rage.

But Pritzker thinks it’s all a joke.

The day after President Trump suggested Pritzker should be jailed for his malfeasance as governor, Pritzker made an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel’s show wearing military gear and mocking those who think Chicago is unsafe.

If Pritzker really thinks Chicago is safe, he ought to show up on Kimmel’s show while walking the streets at night — but then the truth would be there for everyone to see.

Nearly everything Pritzker does to address real-world issues falls short. Donald Trump excepted, it’s hard to relate to others when you’re born into wealth. Pritzker’s uncle founded the Hyatt Hotel chain, and the governor’s net worth is over $3 billion. Pritzker is unable to relate to ordinary Americans, nor can he see how the decisions of corrupt politicians impact their everyday lives. As Peter Lucas writes at the Boston Herald, “Democrats hate billionaires. They hate billionaires more than they hate criminals.” He adds that Pritzker is “rich, and he flaunts it, which no doubt causes concern among Democrats who purport to represent the working class that the billionaires are allegedly living off.”

Letting illegal alien criminals roam the neighborhoods of Chicago and other cities isn’t Pritzker’s only failure as governor. For a billionaire, he’s surprisingly reckless when it comes to managing the state’s budget.

“Illinois’ state spending has grown more under Gov. J.B. Pritzker than any other state leader since former Gov. George Ryan, outpacing growth in inflation as expenditures ballooned by more than $12.9 billion,” informs the Illinois Policy Institute. “Since 2010 alone, lawmakers introduced 70 new or higher taxes on Illinois residents, costing them $110 billion more. Of those tax hikes, 49 went into effect during Pritzker’s tenure.”

Pritzker also lacks transparency regarding his own finances. The Chicago Tribune reveals, “As has been done annually since his first run for governor, Pritzker’s campaign released incomplete information detailing his wealth, as it did not provide his full federal and state income tax returns, which could reveal greater details about his financial interests.”

His 2024 income, the Tribune notes, included “more than $1.4 million in income from gambling.”

Throw in high unemployment, soaring taxes, a hostile environment for business, and poor education standards, and it comes as no surprise that so many people are leaving Illinois. And that’s precisely what Pritzker did during the COVID-19 lockdowns, abandoning the people of his state during a cold, dark winter while he basked in the Florida sun.

Pritzker may seem like a friendly face to Americans just learning his name, but he’s just another radical Democrat running from his failed record as governor. Like Gavin Newsom in California, JB Pritzker talks tough in front of the cameras, but he’s a weak leader unfit to run the country.