JU LY 10 -11, 2 0 24 • vol . 6 3 i ssu e 36
News from Plainfield • Joliet • Shorewood • Lockport • Crest Hill • Bolingbrook • Romeoville • Downers Grove • Westmont • Woodridge • Lisle • Niles • Morton Grove • Park Ridge & more
Pritzker, Dem governors concerned about president’s campaign By hannah meisel Capitol News Illinois
Gov. JB Pritzker traveled to the White House to meet with President Joe Biden and his fellow Democratic governors on Wednesday amid rising worry within the party about the president’s ability to continue running for a second term. Pritzker – whose name had been floated by the pundit class as a possible 2024 candidate for the White House before the president announced his reelection campaign – has repeatedly pledged his loyalty to Biden. The only public criticism Pritzker has leveled against Biden has been in asking for more help with migrants arriving in Illinois. But in a CNN interview on Tuesday evening, the governor expressed mild worry about Biden’s campaign, while still unequivocally saying he would continue supporting the president’s candidacy “unless he makes some other decision.” Wednesday’s meeting comes on the heels of Biden’s performance during the first of two scheduled
debates with former President Donald Trump last week, which raised concerns about the president’s mental acuity. Pritzker on CNN offered a critique not directly of Biden’s debate performance, but of what he’s done – or failed to do – since. “We haven’t heard a lot from him since the debate, and that’s why the polls look as they do,” Pritzker said. “I think that when you come off a bad debate, you need to remind people why you’re the right guy to elect.” But he immediately followed that with the hope that Biden would further engage the public “over the next couple of weeks.” “At least, I expect him to, or he’ll make a different decision,” the governor said of Biden’s candidacy. “And I think that’s again, this is a healthy conversation for us all to be having,” Wednesday’s meeting is an outgrowth of a call earlier this week arranged by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who chairs the Democratic Governors Association. Pritzker was clear that none
see ‘pritzker’ page 5
Gov. JB Pritzker is pictured in a file photo in his Illinois State Capitol office. The governor traveled to the White House on Monday to meet with the president and many of the nation’s other Democratic governors. (Capitol News Illinois file photo by Jerry Nowicki)