Politics
Illinois Republicans Say Democrats in ‘Freefall,’ Confident in Trump Against Biden or Any Nominee
Video: The WTTW News Spotlight Politics team is joined by Santita Jackson, a political commentator and host of the Santita Jackson radio show, and Erik Nisbet, a professor of policy analysis and communication at Northwestern University. The team weighs in on former President Donald Trump’s speech, Joe Biden and the Democrats, and more of the day’s top stories. (Produced by Eunice Alpasan)
Republicans at the party’s national convention in Milwaukee are getting a kick out of the pressure President Joe Biden is facing to drop the Democrats’ nomination and what that could mean for Chicago, which will host the Democratic National Convention next month.
“The Democrats are in full-blown civil war,” said Ohio Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Bernie Moreno, the guest Thursday morning at a gathering of Illinois delegates to the RNC. “We don’t even know who President (Donald) Trump and J.D. Vance are going to run against. We have no idea. It could be your governor.”
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s name is often touted as a possible fill-in should Biden drop from the presidential race.
Whether Pritzker, Vice President Kamala Harris or someone else could be the Democrats’ nominee, U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood (R-Illinois) said he’s not sure what the GOP should do to prepare.
But what is clear, he said, is that Democrats are in “freefall.”
“Dysfunction has seeped into their party,” LaHood said. “I think their convention is going to be much different than this convention, in terms of the unity of what we’ve seen here. The chaos, the dysfunction and what’s going to happen in Chicago, I think could be really, really problematic.”
LaHood indicated the notion that Pritzker, who is heir to the Hyatt fortune and has spent millions both on his own campaigns and to prop up Democrats in other states, would be a Biden or Harris replacement is overblown.
“I think if Gov. Pritzker didn’t have a billion dollars, he wouldn’t be in office right now,” LaHood said. “So I think his money is the only reason why he’s been in office. I don’t think many people outside of his media … bubble pay any attention to Gov. Pritzker.”
Should Biden step aside, U.S. Rep. Mike Bost (R-Illinois) said, Republicans should expect that Trump will face Harris.
Convention rules would make it hard for Democrats to go another route, according to Bost.
“It all boils down to the fact that this particular president, who has earned these delegates, has to actually step down and turn the delegates over,” Bost said. “Unless they use the 25th Amendment.”
The 25th Amendment dictates the line of succession, such that if the president resigns or dies, the vice president becomes president.
“I don’t care which one they put up, Donald Trump is going to beat ‘em,” Bost said.
Trump delegate and Illinois state Rep. John Cabello (R- Machesney Park) said he thinks Biden will stay in the race.
“He holds (the) delegates,” Cabello said. “Why are you trying to force him out?”
Whoever Trump faces won’t impact the outcome, Cabello predicted.
“I don’t think President Trump really cares who the next nominee is, if it’s not Joe Biden,” Cabello said. “I mean, I think you see right now that the country is ready to change … back to President Trump. I think he wins in a landslide no matter who it is.”
Contact Amanda Vinicky: @AmandaVinicky | [email protected]
