Pritzker On Trump's Tweets: 'He's A Racist'

ACROSS ILLINOIS — Referring to President Donald Trump as a "racist," and slamming him for his failure to empathetically address the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, Gov. J.B. Pritzker added that the president's "disgusting" comments and tweets over the past day are just "stoking the flames."

One tweet, which alludes to a military response in Minneapolis, reads: "These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won't let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!"

Twitter later marked Trump's post with a warning for "glorifying violence." And Pritzker, during his daily briefing on Friday, was candid in his disgust for Trump regarding his recent tweets.

"It is completely unacceptable. It's reprehensible," he said. A little later, when responding to a reporter's question on Trump's reaction, he pointedly stated: "I'm pretty blunt about this, he's a racist."

Illinois Coronavirus Update May 29: 115,833 Cases, 5,186 Deaths: Don't miss updates about precautions in the Chicago area as they are announced. Sign up for Patch news alerts and newsletters.

Pritzker empathized with black Americans, who he said never really seem to see progress and must now again live in fear following Floyd's highly-publicized killing, which was captured on video.

Floyd died Monday after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin held his knee to the handcuffed 46 year-old African-American man's neck. Chauvin was charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter on Friday afternoon.

George Floyd Death: Former Cop Derek Chauvin Charged With Murder

Floyd's killing sparked rioting in Minneapolis, where stores and a police station were burned over the last three days, and protests across the country, including in Chicago.

"For black America, it (progress) never really comes," Pritzker said. "So we have so much we have to accomplish in this country."

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot also responded to Trump's "when the looting starts, the shooting starts" tweet on Friday.

"We see the game he's playing because it's so transparent, and he's not very good at it," Lightfoot said. "He wants to show failures on the part of Democratic local leaders … his goal is to polarize, to destabilize local government and to inflame racist urges. And we can absolutely not let him prevail. And I will code what I want to say [to Trump] and it starts with F and ends with U."

Mayor Lightfoot Message To Trump 'Starts With F And Ends With U."