Over the next couple of years, the late night comedy shows will become a stomping ground for 2028 Democratic presidential hopefuls and on Thursday, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel helped kick start that process by welcoming Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker to the show. Together the two would implicitly accuse Republicans of racism by claiming they “know full well” Abraham Lincoln would be a Democrat today and explicitly as Pritzker recalled his 2018 campaign message of “Everything we care about is under siege by a racist, misogynist, homophobic, xenophobic president of the United States."
Pritzker’s speech that has liberal pundits swooning took place in New Hampshire, which led Kimmel to quip that the only reason a politician visits New Hampshire is because they want to run for president. Eventually, Kimmel asked, “I know this is not an announcement that you would make now, but can I ask you this? Is—what is it, like, three years and eight months too far in advance even to be thinking about something like that?”
Before he gave the standard politician answer where he declared he does not know his future plans, Pritzker declared, “Listen, I'm governor of the great state of Illinois, the land of Lincoln, I might add. He would be a Democrat if he were alive today.”
Kimmel agreed, “He would, yes. They like claiming him,” which led Pritzker to add, “Yeah, they do. But they're not anything like him.”
Subtly playing the race card, Kimmel continued, “They know full well which side he would be on. Although, at like 200 years old, he might be watching Fox News.”
Later, Kimmel returned to Pritzker’s speech, “Well, let me ask you about something specific that you said in the speech, and I think this is the thing that got people fired up. You said, ‘It is time to fight everywhere and all at once.’ You called for mass protests. There are mass protests today. What does that mean, fight everywhere and all at once? What should we do?”
Pritzker began by falsely claiming, “I think everybody understands that, at this point, we've got an authoritarian in office. He's essentially tearing apart the things that really matter to working families across the United States, and nobody's stopping him. Congress is under the control of his party. They're all paying homage to him at all times. No one's willing to break with him, even though they're taking away health care from millions of people across the United States and threatening Social Security.”
His solution was to simply make more noise:
The only thing, in my view, that we really can do on a national level is let them know about our displeasure because none of those Republicans in Congress, you know, are—they know they're up for re-election in 2026. And if they don't know how much resistance there is out there in their own districts, then they're just going to keep following Donald Trump and doing whatever he wants. So, we've got to be out there loud, proud, stand up, speak out, and today, I think you saw that all across the United States. I think it's appropriate it's May Day, but it's mayday, everybody. It is literally. Time to fight.
Kimmel then wondered, “I assume you've met the president?”
Pritzker then got more explicit in his allegations of racism:
I was invited to the White House. In fact, when I first got elected, I was governor-elect and he invited all the new governors to the White House. And I have to say, I contemplated whether to go or not… because I'd run an entire campaign where every chance I got—in fact, I started a lot of my speeches by saying, ‘Everything we care about is under siege by a racist, misogynist, homophobic, xenophobic president of the United States.’ … but I got invited because I was governor-elect and with the other governors-elect. And that's where I really met him. And oddly, he spent a lot of time, you know—I don't know, talking to me, seemingly interested in being my friend. It was very odd.
Not nearly as odd as a billionaire governor citing May Day, the day where hard-left, anti-capitalist types frequently resort to violence, including rioting, and highway closures as a good “time to fight.”
Here is a transcript for the May 1-taped show:
ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live!
5/2/2025
12:23 AM ET
KIMMEL: I know this is not an announcement that you would make now, but can I ask you this? Is — what is it, like, three years and eight months too far in advance even to be thinking about something like that?
PRITZKER: Listen, I'm governor of the great state of Illinois, the land of Lincoln, I might add. He would be a Democrat if he were alive today.
KIMMEL: He would, yes. They like claiming him.
PRITZKER: Yeah, they do. But they're not anything like him.
KIMMEL: They know full well which side he would be on.
PRITZKER: Exactly.
KIMMEL: Although, at like 200 years old, he might be watching Fox News.
…
KIMMEL: Well, let me ask you about something specific that you said in the speech, and I think this is the thing that got people fired up. You said, “It is time to fight everywhere and all at once.” You called for mass protests. There are mass protests today.
PRITZKER: Yeah.
KIMMEL: What does that mean, fight everywhere and all at once? What should we do?
PRITZKER: I think everybody understands that, at this point, we've got an authoritarian in office. He's essentially tearing apart the things that really matter to working families across the United States, and nobody's stopping him. Congress is under the control of his party. They're all paying homage to him at all times. No one's willing to break with him, even though they're taking away health care from millions of people across the United States and threatening Social Security.
So, I guess, you know, the question is, what can you do in that circumstance? And the only thing, in my view, that we really can do on a national level is let them know about our displeasure because none of those Republicans in Congress, you know, are — you know, they know they're up for re-election in 2026. And if they don't know how much resistance there is out there in their own districts, then they're just going to keep following Donald Trump and doing whatever he wants.
So, we've got to be out there loud, proud, stand up, speak out, and today, I think you saw that all across the United States. I think it's appropriate it's May Day, but it's mayday, everybody. It is literally –
KIMMEL: Yeah, it is.
PRITZKER: Time to fight.
KIMMEL: I assume you've met the president?
PRITZKER: I did meet the president, yeah. I was invited to the White House. In fact, when I first got elected, I was governor-elect and he invited all the new governors to the White House. And I have to say, I contemplated whether to go or not, but he's president of the United States. This is 2018, 2019, rather. Well, late 2018, and I thought about, you know, whether to go because I'd run an entire campaign where every chance I got — in fact, I started a lot of my speeches by saying, "Everything we care about is under siege by a racist, misogynist, homophobic, xenophobic president of the United States."
KIMMEL: You meant him, right?
PRITZKER: Yeah. And — yeah, he wasn't going to invite me to Thanksgiving dinner for sure, but I got invited because I was governor-elect and with the other governors-elect. And that's where I really met him. And oddly, he spent a lot of time, you know — I don't know, talking to me, seemingly interested in being my friend. It was very odd.
