(The Hill) Illinois Governor JB Pritzker remarked Monday that personal insults directed at him by President Donald Trump “are simply proof of someone who hasn’t left fifth-grade behavior behind” following Trump’s recent remarks about Pritzker’s weight.
“It takes one to know one on the weight question,” Pritzker, a Democrat, said Monday. “And the president, of course, himself, is not in good shape. So, he ought to respond to that from me.”
“I would say also that his personal attacks on me are just evidence of a guy who’s still living in fifth grade,” he added. “He’s the kind of bully that throws invectives at people, because he knows that what he’s saying is actually commentary on himself.”
Trump said Monday in the Oval Office that the Illinois governor “ought to spend more time in the gym, actually.”
The president has a history of going after Pritzker for his weight. During a 2024 Ohio campaign rally, he accused Pritzker of being “too busy eating” to lead his state.
“He wants to eat all the time,” the president said, with laughs in response.
Pritzker on Saturday accused Trump of “abusing his power” following a reported plan to send National Guard troops to Chicago, a move that would follow similar action in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.
“The State of Illinois at this time has received no requests or outreach from the federal government asking if we need assistance, and we have made no requests for federal intervention,” Pritzker said in a thread on the social platform X late Saturday.
partner The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.
