Illinois Governor JB Pritzker on Wednesday drew a comparison between the Trump administration and Nazi Germany, warning that the country is facing the end of its Constitutional Republic, as President Donald Trump prepared to hold his first Cabinet meeting at the White House.
Speaking to CNN, Governor JB Pritzker expressed grave concerns about current events, drawing parallels to the period of 1933 stating that, “We are talking about the death of the constitutional republic, that’s what happened in 1933 1934. And we are seeing today that you have got an administration that’s ignoring court orders.”
“Like, literally ignoring what a judge says, you can’t do this. They are going ahead and doing that anyway. The question is where they stop it. The court does not have the ability to enforce their orders. And the president is supposed to obey them, but he is not. This is just one piece of a story that’s developed over the last six weeks of the ignorance of constitutional norms and indeed disobeying the constitution. Like the birth-right citizenship-its in the constitution– People need to wake up to what’s happening in Washington,” he added.
Pritzker, Illinois’ third Jewish governor, recently warned that the rapid pace at which the Trump administration is reshaping federal policy could be a troubling sign of what’s to come.
Earlier on Wednesday during his combined State of the State and Budget address, the governor asserted: “It took the Nazis one month, three weeks, two days, eight hours and 40 minutes to dismantle a constitutional republic.”
“I do not invoke the specter of Nazis lightly. But I know the history intimately — and have spent more time than probably anyone in this room with people who survived the Holocaust. Here’s what I’ve learned: The root that tears apart your house’s foundation begins as a seed, a seed of distrust and hate and blame,” he added, as reported by the Chicago Tribune.
The governor expressed serious concerns about current national developments, particularly regarding the elimination of diversity programmes and discrimination based on race, ethnicity, or sexual preference.
“I’m watching with a foreboding dread what is happening in our country right now,” he stated.
“The authoritarian playbook is laid bare here: They point to a group of people who don’t look like you and tell you to blame them for your problems. I just have one question: What comes next?,” he added.
