Illinois governor to Democrats: ‘Time to stop surrendering, when we need to fight’

By Edward-Isaac Dovere, CNN

Manchester, New Hampshire (CNN) — “The reckoning,” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker told a room full of revved up Democrats in New Hampshire on Sunday night, “is here.”

Appearing in the first presidential primary state ahead of what’s expected to be a major 2028 Democratic nomination cycle, Pritzker railed against the “Looney Toon Republican Congress” and included jabs at both President Donald Trump’s trade representative and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — but his speech was mainly directed at his fellow Democratic leaders.

Too many of them have been wrong and out of touch about what the Democratic Party should stand for and about the threat Trump poses, Pritzker charged, calling for an end to “the culture of timidity” and for the “do-nothing” crowd to step aside.

“Fellow Democrats, for far too long we’ve been guilty of listening to a bunch of do-nothing political types who would tell us that America’s house is not on fire, even as the flames are licking their faces. Today, as the blaze reaches the rafters, the pundits and politicians – whose simpering timidity served as kindle for the arsonists – urge us now not to reach for a hose,” he said.

“Meanwhile, if we took care to listen to the voices of real people, we would hear our neighbors and friends standing on the street outside screaming for a response, one big enough for a five-alarmer.”

Pritzker called for attention not to the internecine political fights that have consumed many in the party non-stop since November, but to the stories of people who have been most affected by Trump’s moves, and who are making their own efforts to fight back.

The moment, he said, demands it.

“Never before in my life have I called for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption. But I am now,” Pritzker said. “These Republicans cannot know a moment of peace. They must understand that we will fight their cruelty with every megaphone and microphone that we have. We must castigate them on the soap box … and then punish them at the ballot box.”

The cases of the people being removed to El Salvador, Pritzker said, are a perfect example of what he means, arguing that it shouldn’t be hard to stand up for the Constitution.

“Today, it’s an immigrant with a tattoo,” he warned. “Tomorrow, it’s a citizen with a Facebook post that annoys Trump.”

That mentality, Pritzker said, should run through everything from talking about autism care to tariffs.

“Time to stop apologizing when we were not wrong,” he said. “Time to stop surrendering, when we need to fight.”

Pritzker’s constant positioning of himself as leading the opposition to Trump in the second term has registered enough with New Hampshire Democrats that other speakers were applauding it even before he got to the microphone.

“You are standing up for all the people (Trump) has attacked,” former New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch said, as he introduced Pritzker.

“You’re showing Democrats how to stand up and how to fight,” said Rep. Chris Pappas, also from New Hampshire, who is running for the seat of retiring Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, praising him for “cutting through the clutter.”

Pritzker made no presidential announcement — he’s still deciding on whether to run for a third term next year back in Illinois — but he took in many applause lines from the most engaged Democrats in a state that will be key to shaping the party’s nomination.

First, Pritzker said, there is the more immediate fight.

“We must abandon the culture of incrementalism that has led us to swallow their cruelty and their callousness,” Pritzker said, “with barely a cowardly croak.”

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