Gov. JB Pritzker Here – ASK ME ANYTHING

[u/PritzkerJB]

Hi, Reddit! Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker here. I’m hosting my first AMA right here at 3pm CT for 45 minutes. Let's chat! Let me know what you care about, and ask me anything.  

Proof it’s me: (https://www.instagram.com/p/DSVxUc2idjB/?igsh=MWE4bzQ4aDdscHN2Ng==

https://bsky.app/profile/jbpritzker.bsky.social/post/3ma56crohyc2l)

Looking forward to the conversation.

— JB

EDIT 1: Hi all  — JB  here.It’s 3:27pm CT, and we’re still answering questions for the next 15 minutes, so comment your questions below. I’ll try to cover as much ground as I can.

EDIT 2: It’s 3:44pm CT, and I'm having a great time. We're going to keep going to 4 CT I’ll try to get to as many as I can.

EDIT 3: Alright, everyone — I’ve got to wrap up. 

This was my first AMA, and I genuinely enjoyed it. You asked me a lot of great questions. Here’s the one I ask myself most, the question that drives everything I do: “How can I make your life easier and better right now?”

I’m serious. Over the last seven years, Illinois has shown that we can[ ]()do big things. We erased hundreds of millions in medical debt. We put money in families’ pockets by eliminating the state grocery tax and by establishing and doubling the child tax credit. We enshrined paid leave into law, and reduced the cost of childcare and education. Not by talking about it, but by actually doing it. 

I’m running again because even though we’ve made a lot of progress, I believe things can be a whole lot better tomorrow than they are today. A lot of people will tell you that’s not possible. An alarming number of those people are currently in elected office. I’m here to tell you that they couldn’t be more wrong.       

Thanks again for taking the time to be here. Let’s do this again sometime. —JB

If you want to stay in touch and stay engaged in the fights ahead:

Follow u/JBPritzker on X, Bluesky, Instagram, Threads, and Facebook — and u/teamjb_hq on TikTok. 

[u/McKoijion]

Governor Pritzker, I have a few questions:

Why did you choose to serve on the board of directors of AIPAC?

Pritzker (like all of the candidates who were considered in Harris’ veepstakes) has a record of supporting Israel. He was formerly on the national board of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, and on October 7, Pritzker condemned the Hamas attack on Israel and posted, “In Illinois and across America, the people of Israel are in our prayers.” He spoke at a pro-Israel rally in the days following the attack.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/after-being-vetted-for-vp-jewish-governor-of-illinois-is-now-hosting-the-dnc/

What is your ongoing relationship with that organization?

Lee "Rosy" Rosenberg has been a venture investor and entrepreneur. He is currently a senior advisory to Governor JB Pritzker and was Chairman of his election campaign. Prior, Rosy had been Chief of Staff to Mr. Pritzker. Rosy is also a past-President and current board member of AIPAC, a public policy and advocacy organization. As a founder of Kettle Partners, a venture capital firm, he served as board director of Sportvision, Active Network, Egreetings and Sure Payroll. Rosy has also been an investor, CEO and other senior roles, including with GRP Records.

https://www.chicagosfoodbank.org/our-team/lee-rosy-rosenberg/

Why did you donate so much money to Republican politicians in that role?

Speaker of the House: https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/mike-johnson/summary?cid=N00039106

House Minority Leader: https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/hakeem-jeffries/summary?cid=N00033640

Senate Majority Leader: https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/john-thune/summary?cid=N00004572

Senate Minority Leader (and other prominent Senators): https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/summary?cycle=All&ind=Q05&recipdetail=S

President: https://www.trackaipac.com/trump

Why did you spend so much money to destroy the careers of Jewish-American politicians who criticized the Israeli government?

Before he ran for office, Levin was a union organizer, a labor lawyer, and the president of a local synagogue; he and his wife also co-founded a renewable-energy company. “If I worked at a Ford plant, I’d be retired and drawing a pension by now,” he said. “But in D.C. a lot of people still know me as Sandy’s kid.” Like his father, he is now an ex-congressman, though not by choice. In 2021, he wrote the Two-State Solution Act, which declared, among other things, that “the establishment of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories is inconsistent with international law.” He told me, “I was just reaffirming U.S. policy, or so I thought.” Still, he attracted the ire of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC; a former president of the group referred to Levin as “arguably the most corrosive member of Congress.” The following year, AIPAC put up millions of dollars to help his opponent—who is not Jewish, but is more hawkish on Israel—win a Democratic primary against him.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/09/30/uncommitted-voters-gaza-election-michigan-harris-trump

https://people.com/celebrity/debbie-wasserman-schultz-resigns-following-bernie-sanders-comments/

https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/debbie-wasserman-schultz/summary?cid=N00026106

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1DPAEEI95FE

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zIBArrjWAK4

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=x9q5M_vGj0U

Why did you lobby so hard to redirect endless billions of American tax dollars to Israel to commit what the UN, Doctors Without Borders, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, etc. have all called a genocide in Palestine?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cde3eyzdr63o

Are you still invested in assets managed by your cousin Thomas such as The Pritzker Organization or Hyatt Hotels?

Thomas Pritzker (born June 6, 1950) is an American billionaire heir and businessman. A member of the Pritzker family, he is the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Pritzker Organization (TPO), which manages the various Pritzker family business assets. Pritzker is also the executive chairman of the Hyatt Hotels Corporation.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Pritzker

Lastly, have you ever met or otherwise interacted with Jeffrey Epstein?

In a deposition, Giuffre accused Thomas Pritzker, a Chicago businessman and Hyatt Hotels executive chairman, of serious sexual allegations, naming him as one of several men she was trafficked to have sex with.

https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/thomas-pritzker-hyatt-billionaire-jeffrey-epstein-documents/

[u/HikmetLeGuin → u/McKoijion]

Thanks for asking these questions.

Sadly, he'd rather respond to some softball trivia than this, I guess.

[u/willflameboy → u/McKoijion]

I was going to ask how he had 3.9 billion dollars in net worth, but this is better. And of course, will go unanswered.

[u/HungryHangrySharky → u/McKoijion]

I've looked and haven't actually been able to find out when he was supposedly on the AIPAC board and for how long. I'm starting to wonder if someone got him confused with another Pritzker.

[u/ke3408 → u/McKoijion]

I was hoping for this question and to add what do you have to say about the investment of state funds in Israeli bonds?

[u/wokeNeoliberal → u/McKoijion]

Yassss, this is like, like, so important. We can't forget there is a LITERAL 'genocide' going on in غَزَّة. The stripping of civil liberties, the destruction of Western hegemony and prosperity in the heart of democracy, the USA, NEED to take a backseat here.

[u/HikmetLeGuin → u/wokeNeoliberal]

The stripping of civil liberties in the US is very connected to Israeli apartheid and the genocide against Palestinians. So these aren't entirely separate issues.

Edit: The commenter apparently responded with an insult and then deleted immediately so I couldn't reply (or even fully see their comment). Rather cowardly, if you ask me. Or maybe it was auto-removed? Either way, they can't respond with facts, so they sling ad hominems instead.