Gov. JB Pritzker tells President Donald Trump to 'f--- all the way off' in viral video
Gov. JB Pritzker told President Donald Trump and his Republican allies to “f--- right off” during a speech last month before Illinois’ largest teachers union.
Video of Pritzker’s F-bomb started gaining traction on social media Sunday, two weeks after the Democratic governor and potential 2028 presidential contender got a standing ovation for his profane takedown of Trump administration education policies.
“President Trump and his bootlickers have torn down the U.S. Dept. of Education from the inside. Instead of helping to improve math and reading scores like you all are doing and supporting our educators, they're making it harder for students to get ahead,” Pritzker said during his Oct. 19 appearance at the Illinois Federation of Teachers’ triennial convention in Rosemont.
“Books are being banned. History is being erased. Republicans want to take billions away from public schools and pump it into private institutions. They want to punish teachers for telling the truth. They want to criminalize educators for supporting LGBTQ students. They want to turn classrooms into cultural war battlegrounds.
“And I'm sorry to be vulgar, but Donald Trump and his cronies can f--- all the way off,” Pritzker said to raucous applause from the progressive audience.
Content advisory — Vulgar language:
The White House press office didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
Pritzker, who is seeking a third term as governor, has used harsh language in his public criticism of Trump for years, but he’s generally kept it G-rated while lambasting the administration's aggressive deportation campaign, cuts to food assistance programs and myriad other conservative priorities.
With Trump moving to send the National Guard into Chicago, Pritzker also has openly suggested the president is suffering from dementia.
Trump made vulgar waves of his own a few days before Pritzker did, telling reporters that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro “doesn’t want to f— around with the United States.”
Pritzker tossed a couple more coins in the swear jar during his 15-minute IFT speech, blasting Republicans who he claimed “want to destroy public education” by voting against teacher pay raises and targeting their collective bargaining rights.
“We're not going to do any of that crap, either. They honestly don't believe in what you do,” Pritzker told a room full of educators. “They don't respect who you are and they sure as hell don't care about the kids that you serve. Here in Illinois, we're not backing down.”