The MeidasTouch Podcast - Illinois Governor JB Pritzker Gives Urgent Update on Fight Against Trump

Episode Date: August 7, 2025

MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas has an exclusive interview with Illinois Democratic Governor JB Pritzker who has asserted himself and aggressively challenged Donald Trump and MAGA’s gerrymandering plan in Texas and elsewhere and showed what happens when Democrats fight back. Visit https://meidasplus.com for more! Remember to subscribe to ALL the MeidasTouch Network Podcasts: MeidasTouch: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/meidastouch-podcast Legal AF: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/legal-af MissTrial: https://meidasnews.com/tag/miss-trial The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-politicsgirl-podcast The Influence Continuum: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-influence-continuum-with-dr-steven-hassan Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/mea-culpa-with-michael-cohen The Weekend Show: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-weekend-show Burn the Boats: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/burn-the-boats Majority 54: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/majority-54 Political Beatdown: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/political-beatdown On Democracy with FP Wellman: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/on-democracy-with-fpwellman Uncovered: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/maga-uncovered Coalition of the Sane: https://meidasnews.com/tag/coalition-of-the-sane Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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under your protection. There were bomb threats allegedly being reported today. What can you tell us about what's going on, Governor? Well, just to remind everyone, you know, we are. are literally on the verge of losing our democracy. If Donald Trump is able to just steal five congressional districts in Texas, and by the way, they're going to Missouri and Indiana to get those legislatures and those governors to comply as well, then, you know, honestly, you can just cheat and take over government fairly easily, and all of us will be left to wonder what happened. So we've got to stand with these Texas legislature.

So here's what's happening as of today. First of all, yes, it's true that John Cornyn, who is running for re-election to the United States Senate in Texas, called up the president to get the FBI involved. And then you've got Ken Pax in the AG of Texas who is fighting to beat John Cornyn, and he says that Texas can't actually engage the federal government in this. and he's right about that. But he wants to send the Texas Rangers to Illinois instead of the FBI with, as you rightly point out, a civil warrant issued by the Texas House of Representative Speaker. But, you know, the fact is that neither Texas nor the FBI at the federal level have the ability to arrest these Texas Democrats who are breaking quorum.

They just don't. There is no legal precedent for that. There's no law on the books that would allow them to do that. So as, you know, I've been saying, you know, they're all allowed to visit Chicago or Illinois and take in the great view of our lake and our city and enjoy the great restaurants that we have. But they won't be taking anybody home with them or away from the state. We are protecting those Texas House Democrats, and they are protecting, frankly, the entire country in what they do. Let me add one more thing, Ben, there was a threat against those Texas Democrats

that are here in Illinois. It was a bomb threat at their hotel. There was a right-wing a fellow who does podcasts, and he showed up at the location that the Texas legislators are at and took video and then posted it online and posted a map of where in Illinois that hotel is. And then that was shortly after that, that there was a bomb threat that arrived at that hotel. So this is dangerous. It's difficult. We're protecting them. Our state police are there. Our local law enforcement are there. And in addition to that, there's private security that they've hired. So we're in a precarious moment, but I can assure you that we will not give up this fight. And most importantly, the heroes of the Texas Democratic Caucus are not giving up the fight.

So what does that entail not giving up the fight? What's the plan now going forward? Because we all hear about the headlines. We then see the press conference with you and the Texas Democratic state legislatures. We then hear the news that the Texas legislature, Republicans there, passed the resolution to issue these warrants and send the Texas Rangers. But now you've got these people, these Texas Democrats, these courageous heroes who are now living in your state, they've had to move their whole lives there. Do they stay there through

December? Do they stay there for a note? What does this look like now going forward? Yeah. Well, first of all, the Texas legislators, the Republicans rather, need to to give up this battle. They're following their cult leader, I realize, Donald Trump. But the truth is that that's what the Texas Democratic caucus is doing. They're attempting to break quorum so that the Texas Republicans will go back to the business they were supposed to be doing, which is helping the victims of the floods, the families of those who died, the people who were injured, the businesses that were affected by those

floods. That was the purpose of the special session. These Texas Democrats want to get back to work and do that work and not the stealing of democracy on behalf of Donald Trump. So what it looks like going forward, frankly, is they're going to have to stay and break quorum until the Texas Republicans give up this hapless, hopeless endeavor. It could be a long time. There's no doubt about it. And they have given up their families and their livelihoods. You know, they don't get paid much, $600 a month, I understand, to be a legislator.

So they have jobs outside of that. They're not at their jobs. They can't earn anything while they're doing this. So imagine the sacrifices they're making, and they're doing it for one reason. It's for all of us. It's for all of us around the country who understand that Donald Trump is truly trying to break down the democracy, the constitutional republic that we have in this country. And I'm afraid that if they fail, we're going to start to see this happening in other states.

Look, there's only one reason that Donald Trump and the Republicans are doing this. They know they're going to lose in 2026 and they've got to cheat in order to win. Donald Trump is a cheater. He cheated on his wives. He defrauded people out of their money for so many years. He is a 34-time convicted felon. Now he wants to cheat the American public out of their right, their voting. rights. And what they are attempting to do in Texas is, in fact, a violation of the Voting Rights

Act. So we've got to stand up against him. And I know here in Illinois, everybody that I know and the elected leaders, the AG, the head of the Senate, the House Speaker, all of us stand together to support those Texas House Democrats. You know, it's interesting to see the two different images at the federal level, Congress recessing at the Republicans' request because they want to cover up the Epstein files for Donald Trump. On the other hand, you have these Texas state legislatures leaving to protect voting rights and to protect the right of constituents to vote on who. And I just think that that image and people now seeing Democrats across the country doing what you're doing also and fighting back.

And I think you see, and maybe you can speak to this, that when you fight back, it really exposes these Republicans, and they start right away to go into that victim cocoon that they go into. And then they go, why are you doing this to us? This is unfair. You're going to want a gerrymander in your states. No, don't do that. The moment you fight back with these maga bullies, they kind of go into fetal position a little bit. Well, and also there are a lot of bluster, to be honest with, you know, talking about bringing the FBI in on this, there's no federal law involved here. There's no criminal statute involved here at all. But they say it. They talk a good game. They make it sound like this could really happen. Donald Trump, of course, is, you know, all bluster. So to your point, you know, when you call them on their bluff, they don't know what to do. And indeed, look what happened when, you know, Bondi and Patel. said that they were going to release all this information about Jeffrey Epstein. And then it turns out that

either they don't have it, which I think they do, or in fact, it would look bad for their boss if they release it. Then all of a sudden, oh, they backed away from the promise that they made. Same thing with everything about Donald Trump. If you call them on it, just like any bully, you know, if you show a bully that they can't push you around, often they don't know what to do next. And I think the Texas Republicans and Donald Trump are going to have to back off if we stand strong, but we've all got to stand with the Texas House caucus. And I encourage everybody, I know this is not a fundraising podcast, but, you know, remember, they need support. They're having to pay $500 per person fines to the Texas legislature to do this. And so, you know, not to mention they've got to,

you know, stay away from home for quite some time. So supporting that car. is a vital thing to do, sending them letters, standing up, protesting on their behalf, and speaking out hugely important. Well, Lee, we'll end with this. You know, you gave that famous, I think it was a state of the state address. We spoke in front of the legislature in Illinois, and you started with that very strong tone when you didn't really see that right away, and you talked about Illinois being on the front lines and protecting the country.

Now, here we are August. August, early August. Where are we right now? Do you see hope on the horizon? What's your state of the state right now if you were to be given that speech on August 6, 2025? Yeah, I don't want anybody to have any unrealistic expectations. We are living through a very difficult period in American history. And we're all going to have to do a lot of work before this is over in order to preserve our democracy. But I'm from the state of Illinois. We're the land of Lincoln. We're so proud of Abraham Lincoln who was a Republican, but he wouldn't recognize this Republican Party. And I'm proud that we're the state, the home state of Barack Obama. And so we know that,

you know, as a state anyway, you know, there's a symbolic, you know, view of our state, but also that the people of Illinois are strong and tough. Chicago is a city of big shoulders. And I can tell you that we're willing to stand up and protect these Texas House Democrats for as long as it takes and do whatever is required, and particularly because we all collectively know that our democracy is on the line. And now is the time for everybody to stand up, speak out, do the right thing. Governor J.B. Pritzker, we appreciate your time. As always, we appreciate you and your state, really stepping up and protecting democracy and fighting for also these state legislatures, these Democrats who are fighting just for their constituents to be able to fairly vote

in this upcoming midterm election. Thank you so much. Thanks, Ben. Everybody hit subscribe and let's get to 6 million subscribers. The truth is more important than ever. Check out our new truth over lies collection at store. Midas touch.com, all 100% USA union made.