Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker posted a video of himself speaking at a podium, saying his late mother was an activist and that he felt her spirit when he raised the state’s minimum wage, capped insulin at $35, and opposed President Donald Trump on voting rights. “I know she’d be proud,” he wrote. The clip drew a sharp online response, with critics questioning his record on taxes, hotel wages, and who first limited insulin costs.
The footage shows Pritzker tying his record to his late mother. He says he “felt that” her example when he set “my priority,” and that raising the state’s minimum wage “lifted 1.4 million people.” Later in the clip, he says people can “begin new lives” and that they can stand up “every time.”
His caption completes the argument. “My mother was an activist,” he wrote. “I could feel her spirit when I raised the minimum wage in Illinois. And when I capped the cost of insulin at $35. And every single time I’ve stood up for voting rights against Donald Trump. I know she’d be proud.”
State reporting backs parts of that record: Pritzker signed a 2019 law that raised Illinois’ minimum wage from $8.25 to $15 an hour, a change that took full effect in 2025. He also signed a 2023 measure lowering the state’s out-of-pocket insulin cap to $35 for a 30-day supply on many state-regulated plans, after an earlier Illinois cap of $100. A separate $35 Medicare insulin limit has its own federal history, including a Trump-era demonstration and a later Inflation Reduction Act rule.
How Viewers Are Responding to Pritzker’s Speech
Some users praised the policies. “U rock Gov! So glad I live in #IL with #Dem efforts to improve lives here 4 all,” one person wrote.
Others challenged the wage and tax record. “How much are those folks making in your motels?” one commenter asked. Another wrote, “Why did my property taxes go up again?”
A third argued, “You raise the minimum wage and then raise taxes to take away that raise and then some.”
Several replies focused on insulin. One quote-post said Pritzker capped the cost “AFTER President Trump capped the cost of insulin at $35.00.”
Another wrote, “Trump’s administration had a $35 Medicare insulin initiative in place before Pritzker’s Illinois legislation.”
A few comments went after his wealth instead of the clip. “Stop lying about your past; you are a trust fund fraud,” one user wrote. Another called him “a billionaire getting rich off your stupidity.”
Pritzker’s record on wages, insulin costs, and voting rules is still being argued over in Illinois and nationally, and this speech is another turn in that fight with Trump.
