The long-running feud between President Donald Trump and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is ramping up after Pritzker suggested Trump’s recent behavior is proof he’s “suffering from dementia.”
Pritzker made the allegation during an interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Tuesday in response to a question about the president’s ongoing attacks against Democratic socialists.
Trump had been calling party members “communists” ever since a wave of Democratic socialists from New York, Pennsylvania, and Colorado, among others, won state-level elections and federal races.
Trump has crowed repeatedly that they’re the greatest threat to the U.S. since World War II and even 9/11.
Collins asked the top Democrat in Illinois about it.
“The man is continually suffering from dementia. I don’t think he really understands what he’s saying,” Pritzker said matter-of-factly before pointing out other concerning incidents.
“The truth is, I mean this is a man who’s threatened to jail the mayor of Chicago, the governor of Illinois. He regularly threatens to go after people and indeed has used the Department of Justice to go after people. So, you know that he just, I think he has these concepts in his head, and he blurts them out without really thinking,” the governor stated.
“Do you really think the President has dementia?” Collins pressed, to which Pritzker emphatically agreed, “I do.”
“I think if you look at any of the videos from 2015 or 2016 and look at how he responded to questions, and how he was at press conferences, and then you fast-forward and look at him now, I really think there’s something genuinely wrong with him,” the governor said with conviction.
“I’m not a doctor; I haven’t diagnosed anything. I’m just suggesting to you that you just look at the way he puts words and sentences together and thoughts, and they’re almost divergent in the same sentences,” Pritzker concluded.
The 80-year-old Trump has undergone at least four cognitive tests in just over a year and has tried to play them off as IQ tests. He has repeatedly bragged about “acing” these tests, which experts say are used to diagnose dementia and other cognitive disorders.
In May, he also underwent his third physical exam in the past 13 months.
Since retaking the presidency, Trump has repeatedly fallen asleep publicly. He’s given long, nonsensical, and rambling speeches and easily loses his train of thought.
The White House, in its response, shockingly did not deny Pritzker’s assessment of Trump having dementia but instead lashed out at the governor:
“Jay is a certifiable loser who has done a terrible job running his state. Everybody sees it clearly, except for him. He must have dementia.”
Social media erupted in agreement with Pritzker for several reasons.
“If anyone has ever cared for someone with dementia, they realize the signs are all there,” a Threads user agreed.
This Threads user suggested the Trump administration and MAGA lawmakers in particular know exactly what’s going on with Trump.
“Even Helen Keller could see that Trump has dementia. The Republicans won’t do anything about it. For them it’s about the party not the country.”
Many took issue with the White House’s response.
“I know you are but what am I?!” Response from the white house. So embarrassing lol,” one person wrote. “I truly am saddened to live in a world where that is a quote from a WH spokesperson,” another replied.
“Every accusation is a confession. We have decades’ worth of evidence to support this. Did they just admit it?”
Trump and Pritzker have been embroiled in a bitter public feud since last year, but it boiled over after Trump sent the National Guard into Chicago last October.
The Guard was sent home after the governor and other Illinois officials started legal action against the president and his use of the military in American cities in a crackdown on illegal immigration and crime.
But the angry rhetoric between the two men continued. In May, Trump shared an AI-generated image of the Democratic governor pigging out on pizza, nachos, and other junk food. Critics blasted it as a bizarre and childish distraction from the growing affordability crisis facing many Americans.
And in March, after Pritzker locked in his third Democratic nomination for Illinois governor without opposition, he went after Trump in his victory speech, calling him the “commander in thief and “carnival barker in chief.”
