Free Republic

ILLINOIS - President Joe Biden announced he is dropping out of the 2024 presidential race. With all the speculation over who could replace him, would Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker be a possibility? The president posted his decision to bow out of the race Sunday on social media and he endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee. Despite his endorsement, Harris has not been officially selected as the nominee for president in the 2024 election. Shortly after Biden's announcement, Pritzker issued this statement on his decision, emphasizing the president's successful term and the "threat posed by Trump's potential return...

Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a vocal supporter of President Biden, was caught on a hot mic Wednesday expressing his dissatisfaction with the state of the presidential race. “I mean, we’re just going to keep fighting. I don’t know what to say. You know, got to do what we have to do,” Pritzker was heard telling a man on the sidelines of a crime-fighting event in Chicago. “I don’t like where we are,” the governor added. A spokesperson for the governor told NBC Chicago that Pritzker was discussing the presidential race and the debate regarding the 81-year-old president’s status as...

CHICAGO -- At least 87 people have been shot, 16 fatally, in gun violence across Chicago since Wednesday evening during the extended Fourth of July holiday weekend, police said. The violence includes three mass shootings, one in which two women and an 8-year-old boy were killed and two young boys were left in critical condition after multiple shooters opened fire into a Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood home on the South Side. At least 19 of those shot were in mass shootings in Austin, Greater Grand Crossing and Little Italy. About 12:15 a.m. Friday, police responded to calls of shots fired...

The Fourth of July historically is one of the nation’s deadliest days of the year. A flurry of shootings around the holiday a year ago left more than a dozen people dead and over 60 wounded. And a year before that, seven people died in a mass shooting at a Fourth of July parade near Chicago. Violence and mass shootings often increase in the summer months, with more people gathering for social events, teens out of school and hotter temperatures. Chicago ‘in state of grief’ In Chicago alone, 11 people had been killed and 55 wounded in shootings as of...

Billionaire Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker failed to deliver jobs promised for black workers in the emerging cannabis and green energy industries, an economic advocacy group said in a scathing report. Pritzker – considered a potential replacement for President Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket – will be hosting the Democratic National Convention on his Chicago turf in August. “Governor Pritzker wants the DNC to celebrate his leadership of the state. However, it would be an injustice to do so without acknowledging the deteriorating state of affairs for Black communities, especially in Chicago,” said Darius Jones, senior advisor...

Billionaire Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker failed to deliver jobs promised for black workers in the emerging cannabis and green energy industries, an economic advocacy group said in a scathing report. Pritzker – considered a potential replacement for President Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket – will be hosting the Democratic National Convention on his Chicago turf in August. “Governor Pritzker wants the DNC to celebrate his leadership of the state. However, it would be an injustice to do so without acknowledging the deteriorating state of affairs for Black communities, especially in Chicago,” said Darius Jones, senior advisor...

Now law is the $750 million in tax increases to fund Illinois’ largest spending plan in state history. But so is a measure increasing the state’s debt by $8 billion while giving schools more taxing authority. Pritzker signed the $53.1 billion budget Wednesday. Friday, he signed the tax measure that includes capping the credit businesses can get for claiming net operating losses and capping the discount retailers get for collecting and remitting sales taxes. Hours later, Pritzker defended another tax increase, the tiered tax on sports betting companies. “In fact, if you look at what we did, really our focus...

“If you’re a successful governor with $2 billion, where do you go next? The White House,” outlines Pritzker’s fantasy ascendance to the Oval Office, perhaps in 2024 due to the incumbent’s mental and physical decline, or four years later in 2028. Pritzker desperately wants to be a bigger player than he is, and ambitious politicos swaddled in luxury from birth prefer to start at the top. Pritzker’s dark-money organization — Think Big America — is buying him political goodwill all over the country. Are citizens in states across the country hungry for Pritzker’s reforms like the SAFE-T Act, which releases...

A Springfield judge on Wednesday ruled unconstitutional a new law that would have prevented Republicans from slating candidates for the November general election in contests where they had not fielded a contender in the March primary.

A woman dubbed 'America's worst mayor' will be probed by former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot after her town vetoed her attempts to block any investigation - the decision sent a town meeting into chaos. Police, on Monday, were forced to break up the room as the situation devolved following a 4-2 vote by the town board to reinstate Lightfoot, who will conduct an investigation into Mayor Tiffany Henyard. The Dolton mayor - who spoke into a golden microphone during the meeting - is currently under federal investigation, as well as immense pressure from her constituents to resign. She is being...

"Ad Kan" exposing: The far left organizations: "breaking the silence," "Gisha," "Akevot," "Yesh Din" and "Adalah" receive millions of shekels from the funding bodies of the US protests against Israel. "Ad Kan" organization: "It is time for the Israeli government to stop the flow of funds from terrorist supporters 'Civilians' in Israel." The research department of the "Ad Kan" organization revealed today (Wednesday) that the funds that finance the front of the struggle against the State of Israel on campuses throughout the USA, finance in the State of Israel a series of radical leftist organizations such as "Breaking the Silence",...

CHICAGO (WLS) -- It's been a violent holiday weekend so far in Chicago. At least 41 people have been shot, nine fatally, since Friday evening. One of those shootings left a 5-year-old girl dead. Despite the still high shooting numbers, calls to stop the gun violence in the city seemed to have an impact. This holiday weekend's violence numbers, so far, are lower than last year's, when 53 people were shot, 11 fatally. The long weekend is putting Mayor Brandon Johnson's summer safety plan to the test. He spoke during a community walk over the weekend, criticizing previous administrations for...

Governor JB Pritzker (D-IL) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that he was concerned about a presidential debate because former President Donald Trump “lies and lies and lies.” Pritzker said, “Let’s let the courts have their say about Donald Trump’s crimes and I don’t think that Joe Biden needs to be talking about that when he can remind people about what’s at stake for their future when they go into the ballot box at in November.”

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) is “proud” of abortionists who end the lives of unborn babies, he said in a video created by the national nonprofit he launched last year to promote abortion across the United States. “Today is Abortion Providers Appreciation Day. Thank you to the doctors, nurses, clinic staff and volunteers who help those in need, treating their patients with dignity and compassion,” he said in the Think Big America video posted to X on Sunday. “You’re on the front lines of this fight, and your sacrifices and your work make me proud.” The Illinois governor also touted...

In a surprising turn of events, Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard has vetoed a unanimous board resolution aimed at investigating her use of tax funds, plunging the town into a storm of controversy. The mayor defends her veto by asserting it’s a preventative measure against potential personal attacks. Mayor Henyard’s actions have triggered public outrage, as recent revelations shed light on the alleged misuse of taxpayer money. Accusations range from indulging in lavish trips to orchestrating a $1 million giveaway and maintaining a $1 million police detail, all while drawing a hefty annual salary of $287,000.

Self-described “super mayor” Tiffany Henyard vetoed a resolution seeking to investigate her spending following allegations that she misused taxpayer money on lavish trips and her own $1 million police detail. The Dolton, Illinois, village board unanimously voted to open a probe into Henyard, calling on her to submit the village’s financial records and inviting the FBI to conduct its own investigation. Henyard, however, issued a veto on Monday, claiming the resolution was the result of personal attacks against her and stemmed from one-sided narratives. “As you can see, our village, our community, myself, we are under attack,” Henyard said at...

As Congress dithers about funding aid to Ukraine, Ukrainian military capabilities decline. This decline is gradual. Previously committed weapons, munitions, and supplies will keep some equipment flowing for months or even years. However, the effects of declining aid will be increasingly apparent on the battlefield. Ukraine is no longer able to conduct a counteroffensive. By February or March, it will have difficulty conducting local counterattacks, and by early summer, it will struggle to fend off Russian attacks. At some point, the front will collapse, and Russia will impose a harsh peace. Q1: Why is military aid needed? A1: Militaries in...

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) scrutinized language in the special counsel’s report, released Thursday, on President Biden’s retention of classified documents — including comments about the president’s age and memory. “I smell a rat,” Pritzker, one of the top surrogates in Biden’s reelection campaign, said during a press conference Friday. “It was extremely unfair for a [former President] Trump appointee, originally to the Department of Justice, to offer his own opinions about the mental acuity or age of the president of the United States,” he added. His defense of Biden comes after DOJ special counsel Robert Hur, who was tasked...

Governor JB Pritzker (D-IL) said Monday on MSNBC’s Iowa caucus coverage that the “weakness” of former President Donald Trump was shown in his 30-plus point win. Pritzker said, “Almost half of the base of the Republican Party showing up for this caucus tonight voted against Donald Trump. Think about that. I mean, this is the most famous Republican. He’s the guy who, you know, basically built the modern Republican Party, the MAGA Republican Party that the Democrats are running against. Half of the people in that party did not vote for Donald Trump.” He continued, “I think that is telling....

During CBS’s Iowa caucus coverage on Monday, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) stated that the surge in Venezuelan migrants is the fault of 2024 Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump because he “created the chaos that’s happened in Venezuela that’s caused so many people to leave that country and seek asylum in the United States.” And that while immigration will be “an important issue to people,” “what people really care about is their own well-being, their family’s well-being,” and economic issues are “things that really matter to people in their personal lives.” Pritzker said, “Well, I think it’ll be...