Pritzker Thunders Against ‘Do Nothing’ Democrats as He Stokes 2028 Talk

Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois strode into a ballroom filled with top New Hampshire Democrats on Sunday and by the end of his nearly 30-minute speech had them ready to storm the political barricades against President Trump.

“It’s time to fight everywhere and all at once,” he told the group of Democratic activists, officials and donors, who jumped to their feet with hoots and applause. “Never before in my life have I called for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption. But I am now. These Republicans cannot know a moment of peace.”

“The reckoning is finally here,” he declared.

For the Trump administration, of course, but also for his own party.

In the fight over the future of the Democratic Party, Mr. Pritzker has emerged as a leader of an insurgent faction calling for a full-throated, unflinching barrage of attacks on Mr. Trump, his Republican allies and their right-wing agenda.

His speech was a call to action more aggressive and comprehensive than perhaps any other by a major liberal figure since Mr. Trump took office, rivaled only by rallying cries from Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York on their Western tour. But unlike them, Mr. Pritzker set his stem-winding address in a state with a century-long hold on the nation’s first presidential primary contest — a striking statement on its own.

Mr. Pritzker, of course, rebuffed any suggestion that his appearance on Sunday night in Manchester, N.H., represented the opening bell of the 2028 Democratic primary race. He said he was focused on backing the party’s efforts in next year’s midterm elections.