Illinois Gov. Pritzker says he’s ‘deeply concerned’ about Trump’s retaliation rhetoric

Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D-Ill.) said he’s “deeply concerned” about former President Trump’s recent retaliatory rhetoric.

“I don’t know where it’s going, with Donald Trump, what I can tell you is, the things that he talks about, are frightening to those of us who know the history of Europe in the 1930s and 40s,” Pritzker told MSNBC as part of a longer interview set to air Sunday afternoon on “Inside with Jen Psaki.” “And I’m deeply concerned about his predilection for revenge.”

Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, has made recent statements signaling he wants revenge against those he sees as his enemies. Earlier this year, he told his supporters he would be their “retribution” if he gets back into the White House.

The former president also told supporters last week that he would direct the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate “every Marxist prosecutor in America.” Last weekend, Trump made a promise to “root out … the radical-left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country.”

The comments have made critics anxious. Some of them fear a second Trump administration may not have the guardrails that were there in his first administration. 

“His policies are not centered around improving the lives of his supporters or Americans in general, it’s centered around consolidating power for Trump, and that way he can wield it to enact that revenge on anyone he deems as an enemy,” said Sarah Matthews, a former Trump White House and campaign press aide who resigned over the Jan. 6 riots.

“And that is what is scary, and I wish that was penetrating through more in the minds of voters,” Matthews added.