Rauner Criticizes Pritzker's Coronavirus Restrictions

CHICAGO — Former Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner says restrictions imposed by his successor in response to the coronavirus pandemic were "worse than the disease," according to WMAQ-TV.

The former Winnetka Republican, who has spent the last eight weeks in Florida, told a reporter Democrats are positioned to benefit from Gov. J.B. Pritzker's five-step "Restore Illinois" plan to gradually reopen the state's largely shuttered economy.

Rauner described it as a "Trifecta for Dems" to keep the Illinois economy shut — justifying a progressive income tax amendment and a federal bailout of state finances, as well as a "horrible economy for Trump's re-election," according to the report. "We've put this problem almost entirely on the backs of our children (who are at virtually no risk from this disease)," he said in a text message.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Trump administration's top infectious disease doctor, told Congress on Tuesday that a new inflammatory disease linked to the coronavirus in children may mean children are at higher risk from the virus than previously thought.

"When did policy goal shift from 'flatten the curve' to 'keep everyone safe?'" Rauner continued. "The latter is not possible."

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Rauner joined Illinois Republicans in calling on Pritzker to adopt a less-restrictive reopening plan to ease economic suffering during the pandemic. House and Senate GOP leaders have endorsed a proposal from the Illinois Municipal League to cut from 28 days to 14 days the minimum time required to move between the plan's five stages and to evaluate the state based on its existing 11 hospital regions rather than dividing it into four quadrants.

Republicans have also called for the Illinois General Assembly, which has not met since early March, to convene rather than continuing "decree by one person," as GOP leader Rep. Dan Brady described Pritzker's reopening plan.

The handling of Illinois' most prominent infectious disease outbreak of Rauner's administration — the deadly 2015 Legionnaires' disease crisis at a veterans home in Quincy — was sharply criticized in last year's state audit, which cited delays in notifying staff and the public.

Dubbed the "Wolf of Winnetka" by his Democratic opponent in 2014, Rauner last year sold the home in the Hubbard Woods neighborhood that he and his wife, Diana, owned for nearly a quarter century. She reportedly said the pair planned on "moving to Italy" if Rauner were to lose re-election to Pritzker.