Pritzker Says He’s ‘All in for Joe Biden’ Amid Calls for the President to Drop Out of 2024 Race

Amanda Vinicky | July 9, 2024, 5:53 pm

Video: At a Chicago event on July 9, 2024, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he’s “all in for Joe Biden” as the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee. (WTTW News)

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Tuesday said “of course” President Joe Biden is mentally and physically up to serving for another term.

“Joe Biden is our nominee,” Pritzker said at an unrelated event in Chicago’s North Lawndale community. “I’m for Joe Biden. Joe Biden’s going to be our nominee.”

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But Pritzker left open the door to a White House run if there is an opening, refusing an opportunity to dismiss that possibility by saying it’s a hypothetical.

Pritzker, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and others are often part of a short list of would-be options for president or vice president should Biden step down from the Democratic ticket.

Whitmer has been quoted as saying she is uninterested in being the nominee even if Biden drops out.

Asked whether he would also take himself out of contention, Pritzker demurred.

“What I can tell you is: I’m not engaging in any hypotheticals,” Pritzker said. “You can see that I’m all in for Joe Biden. Joe Biden’s going to be the nominee of the Democratic Party. I’m gonna go out there and wholeheartedly campaign for him. I have endorsed him and Kamala Harris. He’s going to be at the convention in August, accepting the nomination, and I’ll be cheering for him in the audience.”

Pritzker, a billionaire heir of the Hyatt fortune, is in the second year of his second term as Illinois’ governor and is a top surrogate for the Biden campaign.

Pritzker used his political connections and deep pockets to help Chicago win as host of the 2024 Democratic National Convention, scheduled for Aug. 19-22.

The Republican National Convention begins Monday in Milwaukee.

Pritzker noted he’s scheduled to campaign in Indiana and Ohio on Biden’s behalf. Upon a reporter questioning whether those appearances double as making connections with motivated Democrats in other states, Pritzker said “you could say that about any of the surrogates who are traveling around the Midwest or the country, that they’re introducing themselves in some way or another.”

“Importantly, what we’re doing is talking about why it’s important to reelect Joe Biden and Kamala Haris and why it’s important to defeat Donald Trump, who’s trying to take away your freedoms, who’s trying to send jobs overseas and frankly would be bad for the economy, bad for working families,” Pritzker continued.

Pritzker, who has used his personal fortune to start the Think Big America PAC, has or is collectively spending millions on abortion rights campaigns in states including Arizona, Florida, Montana and Nevada.

He’s also made personal appearances at Democratic meetings or rallies in Florida, New Hampshire and Wisconsin.

So far, U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley of Chicago’s 5th District is the most prominent Illinois Democrat to call for Biden to withdraw from the presidential contest, telling reporters in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday that Biden “can’t win and my colleagues need to recognize that.”

Pritzker said such “differing” opinions are “not unreasonable” but added he knows Quigley doesn’t want former President Donald Trump to regain office. “In the end, everybody understands that we’re pulling together to put our party, and our party’s nominee, and our issues, over the line.”

Quigley has said that having a weak candidate at the top of the ticket could harm Democrats downballot, but Pritzker said he believes the opposite is true — that candidates downballot help those running at the state and national levels.

The chaos caused by Biden’s wavering voice and stumbling answers during the June 27 presidential debate doesn’t help the party in what’s expected to be a close race, but Pritzker said “I can’t imagine” the current upheaval resulting in a brokered convention.

Pritzker said questions about Biden’s future are justified given a “bad performance” at debate. “He (Biden) needs to go out there and answer all the questions, and he needs to show people that he is the leader of the free world. And that he’s doing a heck of a job of making sure that the United States is leading us, and we have a lot of enemies in the world, and it is going to take a tough, strong, smart and principled leader, and that’s what Joe Biden is.”

Pritzker made his remarks about the 2024 election in response to reporters’ questions following an unrelated event announcing state funding for programs to train residents from disadvantaged neighborhoods in renewable energy jobs.

The Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, which Pritzker signed into law in 2021, requires Illinois create 100% of its energy from carbon-free sources by 2050.

Pritzker maintained it is possible the state will reach that goal, particularly given that more than half of Illinois’ power currently comes from nuclear sources; nuclear is considered “clean” energy because it doesn’t emit greenhouse-gas-causing carbon dioxide, though nuclear is not classified as renewable. Pritzker expects that in the next year or two, Illinois will get about 25% of its energy from renewable sources like wind and solar power.

Should the state meet those targets, Pritzker estimated that would mean Illinois would be at the roughly 75% mark.

“There’s still a lot of work do to, but that’s just in the near term,” he said. “I think we have a good shot at actually hitting 2050.”