Pritzker Won’t Say if He’s Leaving Illinois for Thanksgiving
Governor JB Pritzker wouldn’t say Monday whether he and his family would remain in Illinois for Thanksgiving or travel to homes in Wisconsin or Florida, prompting Republican calls of hypocrisy by the billionaire Governor.
Governor JB Pritzker is spending a lot of time encouraging Illinoisans to stay home and to avoid traveling to and through places with high positivity rates for COVID-19.
It raised eyebrows Monday when Pritzker wouldn’t rule out leaving the state over the Thanksgiving holiday next week.
“I don’t know exactly what my plans will be,” Pritzker initially answered.
When pressed, Pritzker still wouldn’t confirm his plans. Asked if he would be staying in Illinois, he responded “that is my hope, but I will let you know.”
Congressman Rodney Davis (R-Taylorville) tweeted a response to Pritzker’s lack of clarity.
“Unbelievable,” Davis tweeted. “Even [Pritzker] won't commit to following his own guidance. For the rest of us, "stay at home" doesn’t mean “pick which mansion you’d like to spend your holiday.” More hypocrisy from our out-of-touch Governor.”
I sent the exchange to a couple of Republican legislators.
“Wow,” replied a State Representative, clearly flabbergasted by the comment.
“Seriously?” asked another GOP lawmaker.
Clearly, the issue isn’t so much Pritzker’s health and safety if he were just to hop in a car and drive the 90 minutes to his multi-million dollar mansion on the shores of Geneva Lake in Wisconsin or to his horse farm near the Illinois/Wisconsin border.
Traditionally, when a governor travels, he is accompanied by his Illinois State Police security detail.
Wisconsin has reported positivity rates higher than 40% in recent days, meaning any contact outside of his compounds could lead to additional exposure for Pritzker, his family, or his security detail.
It is unclear the last time the Governor went to one of his properties in Wisconsin, if his security detail traveled with him, or where his security detail stays during those trips. Neither a spokesperson for the Governor or the Illinois State Police responded to our e-mails Monday night.
A spokesperson for the Governor told a Chicago reporter Monday Pritzker’s schedule “changes day to day.”
Pritzker has been criticized for his decisions to continue traveling to Wisconsin during the initial state shutdown this spring and for his family continuing to travel to their home in Florida or to their Wisconsin property during the spring.
Rumors have swirled in recent weeks that Pritzker is traveling to Wisconsin on weekends, but The Illinoize has not been able to confirm the travel. It isn’t clear the last time Pritzker traveled to his $12 million horse farm outside of Palm Beach, Florida. Pritzker has been known to travel using semi-private charter flight company “Wheels Up.”
For many Illinois families following the Governor’s guidelines to stay home during the Thanksgiving holiday and pass up celebrations with family and friends, its not clear yet if Pritzker plans to follow his own advice.
