Pritzker: Democrats 'can't be a party of do nothing'

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) called on his fellow Democrats to stop being “a party of do nothing” and instead take bolder action to counter Republicans' actions.

Pritzker joined MSNBC’s “Inside with Jen Psaki” for an interview Monday evening to expand on the message he delivered to New Hampshire Democrats over the weekend, calling for mass mobilization and protests to push back against the Trump administration.

“That was specifically about what we, as a Democratic Party, need to be doing,” Pritzker told Psaki, the former White House press secretary. “That we can't be a party of do nothing, of not getting things done for, again, the people that we care the most about, the people that we're focused on.”

The governor specified that more needs to be done to support “working families, the middle-class, working class, the most vulnerable in our society.”

“It's important to us to stand up in this crisis and to speak out, and again, push back,” Pritzker continued, saying his party must “recognize this is the moment where we need to convey to people what we really stand for. [We] didn't do a great job of it, frankly, in the last election, and that's why we didn't win as Democrats.”

Pritzker — who was rumored to be on the shortlist for former Vice President Harris’s 2024 running mate — delivered the high-profile keynote address at the New Hampshire Democratic Party’s McIntyre-Shaheen 100 Club Dinner on Sunday.

The billionaire governor has not said whether he will run for reelection or if he has ambitions to seek a higher office. The keynote speaker at the McIntyre-Shaheen 100 Club Dinner last year was Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), who ran with Harris last year on the Democratic ticket.

In his speech, Pritzker issued a searing rebuke of the Trump administration but also criticized members of his own party for not listening enough to everyday Americans and instead “flocking to podcasts and cable news shows to admonish fellow Democrats for not caring enough about the struggles of working families.”

“Those same do-nothing Democrats want to blame our losses on our defense of Black people, of trans kids, of immigrants, instead of their own lack of guts and gumption,” Pritzker said Sunday.

He called for Democrats to be bolder in their efforts to counter the Republican agenda — a message he reiterated in his interview Monday.

“It's time to speak out. And then very importantly, we have to deliver for the American people. And I think, frankly, in the States, and you've seen states where there are Democratic governors, not just me, but lots of Democratic governors around the country, we've been delivering for the people of our states, but we need to do this on a national level, and the Congress isn't getting the job done," he told Psaki. "Indeed, now, it's controlled by MAGA Republicans who are taking us backward."

The Illinois Democrat gave several examples of issues he thinks Democrats should focus on, including raising the federal minimum wage, promoting universal health care and fighting pharmaceutical benefit managers.

“Why have we not fought to raise the minimum wage? I mean, why have we not made it a central focus of campaigns for Democrats? And what do Republicans believe, by the way?" he asked.

"If you want to know the contrast here, Republicans, if you ask them, almost all of them think that we shouldn't raise the minimum wage and some large portion of them think we shouldn't have a minimum wage at all," the governor added.

Pritzker also criticized Democrats who stopped pushing for popular policy changes simply because they’re not in power.

“There's a contrast between people who want to get these things done — some of us getting it done at the state level — and people who are, I don't know, sitting around and saying, ‘Well, I couldn't get it done. I couldn't get a majority to get it done,’” he said.

“No,” Pritzker continued. “Fight, fight, fight for these things. Don't leave the chamber until people listen to you about it.”

“So, that's what I'm concerned about is, we have not been bold enough, we've been too timid. And I said that in my speech in New Hampshire last night,” the governor added.