Pritzker caught on hot mic seemingly expressing reservations about fight for Biden

Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D-IL), who has defended President Joe Biden amid calls for him to step down, was caught on a hot mic seemingly expressing doubts about the fight for Biden’s candidacy.

He was talking to people after an unrelated event on crime when cameras caught the remarks.

“I mean, we’re just gonna keep fighting. I don’t know what to say,” Pritzker said. “You know, I gotta … gotta do what we have to do. I don’t like where we are but—”

A spokesperson for the governor said, “Sounds like he was talking about the state of the presidential race,” after CBS Chicago asked about the remarks.

It’s not completely obvious, outside the spokesperson’s statement, what Pritzker is talking about. He could be expressing support for or against Biden in his hot mic statements. If he is talking about the presidential race, it’s clear he’s expressing frustration in relation to Biden, though it’s unclear whether it’s pointed at Democratic efforts to oust him or at Biden himself.

When asked about Biden and Pritzker’s own candidacy, the governor said on Tuesday, “I’m not engaging in hypotheticals. You can see that I’m all in for Joe Biden. Joe Biden is going to be the nominee of the Democratic Party. I’m gonna go out there and wholeheartedly campaign for him.”

Pritzker has been floated as a replacement for Biden, though perhaps not as loudly as Govs. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI). Vice President Kamala Harris is widely viewed as the most likely candidate to replace Biden if he steps aside.

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The Illinois governor is still one of the most influential voices in the Democratic Party given his standing as the chief executive of a Democratic stronghold that will host the Democratic National Convention in August.

His sentiment, if about Biden specifically, appears to match much of what members of the Democratic Party have been considering recently.