WATCH: Pritzker blasts Trump, Illinois GOP leaders at Minneapolis event

By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Gov. J.B. Pritzker has visited another state to criticize Illinois Republican leaders in addition to blasting President Donald Trump.

Pritzker joined Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz at the North Star Summit in Minneapolis Tuesday.

The Illinois governor criticized U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers’ actions as he described them in the Chicago suburb of Broadview.

“Here’s what was happening. We had peaceful protesters showing up and they were getting pelted by ICE standing on top of their buildings, firing gas pellets. These are things that hit you, and it’s like getting hit with a tear gas grenade,” Pritzker said.

The Department of Homeland Security disputed Pritzker’s claims.

“Rioters against DHS and other law enforcement in Illinois have been anything but peaceful,” DHS said in a statement.

Pritzker said he called Republican leaders in the Illinois legislature after a social media influencer filmed in front of his house and essentially said he was the cause of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk’s murder.

Pritzker said he hoped the the state’s GOP leaders would stand up for him.

“We Democrats would, I would stand up for you. I hope you would stand up for me. Neither one of them, I asked them to simply to post something publicly or put a statement out, anything. It seems like just common decency to just say, ‘This is wrong,’ and they wouldn’t do it,” Pritzker said.

State Sen. Li Arellano Jr, R-Dixon, said that Pritzker is not interested in unity.

“He is not meeting with Republicans. I’ve never met the guy. I’ve tried. I’ve talked to his staff, and his staff has been nice,” Arellano said.

Arellano spoke during a virtual town hall streamed on Facebook Monday evening.

The first-year senator said Pritzker is stoking division with different language than he used during his first term.

“You see that in how he’s handling federal law enforcement and how he handles anything now, it always goes back to Trump for him. Whether it’s talking about crime, whether it’s talking about immigration, whether you’re talking about spending, that’s what it always comes back to. There’s no ownership of Illinois or Illinois’ role in things,” Arellano said.