Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker dismissed comparisons between the 1968 DNC and the convention this week as more than 20,000 protesters are expected to descend upon the city.
Asked on CNN’s “State of the Union” how worried he is about protesters disrupting the convention this week, Pritzker said “it’s a whole different ballgame” and there is a “very different situation” in the Democratic Party because it has “coalesced” around Harris’ presidential campaign.
“That was not the case in 1968. Policing is all different now, and we have got technology at work. And, really, the protesters are protesting something that is very far away from here, very important, but it’s not about people getting drafted from here going abroad,” he said, referring to pro-Palestinian protesters expected to be in Chicago this week versus police clashes with demonstrators against the Vietnam War during the 1968 convention.
“So it’s a whole different situation,” he added. “And, honestly, I expect that we’re going to have peaceful protests, we’re going to protect the protesters, but also protect all the people visiting, 50,000 people coming to Chicago, and the residents of Chicago. So the plan’s been in place for a year and a quarter now already. We’re going to execute on that plan the next four days.”
Pressed on whether it was wrong for Democrats to push Biden out of the race, Pritzker said there remains “an enormous amount of reverence” for Biden despite his struggle to maintain support in the weeks leading up to the DNC after his poor June debate performance.
“For 50 years, he has fought for the American people and for working families. And so as we were approaching this convention, I think everybody was looking at the polls and seeing that there were some real challenges ahead,” he said. “There is a danger on the horizon here, and that is that Donald Trump might become president again. And it’s a danger that a majority of Americans will reject. But they need to know that who they’re voting for is somebody that they can be excited and electrified by. And I think they weren’t feeling that about Joe Biden.”
Pritzker anticipated that the convention will be a “celebration” of Biden and what he has accomplished during his presidency.
“We’re also going to see how Kamala Harris has brought the party together with Tim Walz — by the way, a good friend of mine and a fellow Midwestern governor, who’s an everyday guy and somebody that everybody relates to,” he said. “So, I think that collection, that pair, it has turned this place into — well, frankly, it’ll be like a rock concert. I think people are going to be cheering and pretty excited.”
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