(The Center Square) – Illinois House Minority Leader Tony McCombie says Gov. J.B. Pritzker lied about her record to score political hits.
Pritzker said he called state GOP legislative leaders and asked them to speak out about social media influencers he said were embedded with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel in Chicago.
“One of them came to my house and filmed in front of my house, essentially calling me the enemy and telling people that I’m the cause, this was around the Charlie Kirk murder, of political violence or I’m the cause of Charlie Kirk’s murder,” Pritzker said.
The governor called out the GOP leaders Tuesday at the North Star Summit in Minneapolis.
“I called the leaders of the Republicans in the legislature and I said to them, ‘I hope that you will speak out against this, that you will say something. This is wrong,’” Pritzker said.
The governor said the leaders would not speak out and said there is fear among Republicans.
“And it shouldn’t be that there are Democrats that are afraid, because you know what, we’re the targets. We need to be strong. We need to fight back, and there needs to be more of it,” Pritzker said.
McCombie, R-Savanna, said she has consistently and publicly denounced political violence at events, on her platforms and directly to the governor himself.
“In the video now circulating, he admits that he asked me to ‘post something’, something I had already done repeatedly,” McCombie said in a statement to The Center Square.
McCombie said she has never compared her political opponents to Nazis or said that people with different views should never know peace.
“The governor is trying to deflect from his own failures by attacking people who challenge him,” McCombie said.
Pritzker has made Nazi references numerous times since February while discussing President Donald Trump and his administration.
McCombie said Pritzker should stop pointing fingers and take responsibility for his own words.
“I will always condemn violence, no matter who it comes from. But I won’t sit back while the governor deliberately lies about my record to mislead the public and score inappropriate political hits,” McCombie concluded.
Illinois Senate Minority Leader John Curran, R-Downers Grove, pointed to a joint statement he released with Senate President Don Harmon last month.
“We are here to tell you the Illinois Senate is united in wholeheartedly condemning violence from any person in any circumstance. We are committed to working together to ensure that people throughout our state know that Illinois is a safe place to take part in our democratic systems without fear,” the statement said.
