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Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker says race is stark contrast between Harris and Trump’s “stupidity”
CHICAGO (CBS) – In his speech Tuesday night during the Democratic National Convention, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker framed the 2024 general election as a stark contrast between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
Pritzker began the speech by highlighting Illinois’ rich history of being the starting point for multiple future presidents from Abraham Lincoln to Barack Obama, who was also scheduled to speak Tuesday night. He even mentioned parts of Harris’ early life spent in Illinois.
“Now Illinois’ presidential pedigree is unmatched, and given that Vice President Kamala Harris spent some of her early life right here, I speak for the entire Illinois delegation when I say, we claim her too,” Pritzker said.
The governor spent a large portion of his speech criticizing Trump, calling him a “con artist.” Pritzker even referred to his own vast wealth, estimated at around $3.5 billion, in criticizing Trump’s economic policies.
“Donald Trump thinks that we should trust him on the economy because he claims to be very rich, but take it from an actual billionaire, Trump is rich in only one thing: stupidity,” Pritzker said, to a roaring reaction.
The governor even used the opportunity to defend the city of Chicago, which Trump criticized numerous times during his presidency. Pritzker has been a frequent and vociferous critic of Trump during his governorship, often calling him racist and sexist, and pointing out Trump is a convicted felon.
“Donald Trump once called Chicago embarrassing. To quote a great Chicagoan who won six world championships on these very grounds, we take that ‘personally,'” he said referencing basketball legend Michael Jordan.
The speech comes not long after Pritzker’s name was floated as a possible alternative to President Biden at the top of the ticket amid calls for the 81-year-old to drop out of the race. Once Biden did drop out and endorsed Harris to be the party’s nominee, Pritzker’s name was again mentioned as a top contender to be her vice presidential pick.
While he was ultimately not chosen to appear on the ballot, former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot cast Tuesday night’s speech as Pritzker’s opportunity to retain his relevance as a possible national political figure into the future.
“He was clearly in the hunt for vice president,” Lightfoot told CBS News Chicago. “His calculus has now changed since the party is going in a different direction this year. He’s gotta stay relevant. You see him being, and he has been, a surrogate for the Biden-Harris ticket for over the last year. He’s doing every major national program. He’s going and talking to state parties, so this is about his political future.”
Pritzker also made sure to highlight the economic policies of the Biden-Harris administration as being supportive of working and middle-class families. He also took aim at criticisms from conservative criticisms of Democratic policies that emphasize racial equity and other progressive social stances.
“Let’s be clear, it’s not woke that limits economic growth, it’s weird, and these guys aren’t just weird, they’re dangerous,” he said.
The governor argued that the country is in need of a president who will provide “serenity,” something he said Trump would not provide.
“We have a choice America between the man who left our country a total mess and the woman who has spent four years cleaning it up,” Pritzker said. “And I think it’s time we stop expecting women to clean up messes without the authority and the title to match the job.”
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Long before comic book characters dominated movie screens, actor Christopher Reeve made the world believes in superheroes with the 1978 classic “Superman.”
Reeve died in 2004, nearly a decade after an accident re-shaped his life. “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” is using interviews with family and friends and never-before-seen home videos to explore his real-life heroism.
Reeve started his career on the stage, studying at the prestigious Juilliard School and living with comedian Robin Williams. The pair had a friendship that was “more like a brotherhood,” said Reeve’s son Matthew. Reeve was in awe of Williams’ energy and versatility, Matthew Reeve said, but audiences quickly clued into Reeve’s own star power when he took on the role of the Man of Steel.
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To his children, though, he “was just dad,” Matthew Reeve said. The documentary explores how Matthew Reeve and his sister Alexandra Reeve Givens grew up watching their dad take the stage as Superman. “Super/Man” also reveals their heartbreak over their parents’ breakup and the joy they found when Reeve re-married. He tied the knot with Dana Reeve in 1992, and the pair welcomed another child, William Reeve, later that year.
“Dana was sunshine,” Alexandra Reeve Givens recalled. “She just brought joy with her wherever she was and could find it even in the darkest moments.”
Those dark moments came suddenly, when in 1995, a near-fatal horseback riding accident left Reeve paralyzed from the neck down. The documentary allows viewers to see, for the first time, what went on out of the public’s view. Reeve can be heard talking about how he “ruined (his) life and everybody else’s,” but in a touching moment, old friend Robin Williams is seen visiting him in the hospital.
“Robin showed him ‘Hey, you’re still you,'” Alexandra Reeve Givens said. “‘You still have this foundation of friendship and people around you, who adore you. And you’re going to find those fun moments in life again.'”
That support from friends and family re-ignited Reeve’s legacy of activism. He made appearances at the Democratic National Convention and the 68th Academy Awards in 1996, about a year after the accident. Matthew Reeve said watching his father address his industry peers at the Oscars was “one of (his) most proud moments.”
“It was just a production for him to get out of bed every morning, let alone get across the country and go out in public for the first time,” Matthew Reeve said. “It was a big deal. It was a big deal to him, but it was also a big deal to the entire disability community. We stayed up in London till like three in the morning to watch that live. It’s a fond memory.”
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Reeve also went on to launch what would become the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, which is dedicated to advancing research into spiral cord injury and help individuals and families impacted by paralysis. It was his dad’s mission to find a cure, Matthew Reeve said, while his stepmother wanted to focus on improving the lives of paralyzed people and their families. The foundation and Reeve’s platform helped bring unprecedented attention and funding to spinal cord injury research.
Reeve even kept acting and realized his lifelong dream of directing with the 1997 HBO movie “In the Gloaming.” Reeve died in 2004 from heart failure at 52.
“There is a huge amount of great actors and actresses out there, where their filmography might be amazing and what they achieve on a cultural level might be amazing, but have they actually achieved anything really as a human that moves the needle for our society?” said filmmaker Ian Bonhote, who made the documentary with Peter Ettedgui. “And Chris has done both things.”
“Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” will open in theaters on Friday, Oct. 11.
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