Both Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Republican challenger Darren Bailey took their pitches to suburban voters on Monday, with Pritzker accusing his opponent of spreading misinformation and Bailey taking aim at the governor’s policies on fighting crime.
Bailey, who has been a vocal critic of the Pritzker-supported “SAFE-T Act,” campaigned on Monday with former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who made a high-profile split with the Democratic party earlier this year. “He is who our founders were talking about when they said that we needed a government of, by and for the people,” she said of Bailey.
Bailey called crime Illinois’ number one problem, and says that Gabbard has lent her support to his campaign because of his stances on the issue.
“I see Tulsi Gabbard as someone that realizes America is in trouble,” he said. Pritzker, who also campaigned in Arlington Heights on Monday, fired back at the comments, criticizing Gabbard as a “pro-Russian conspiracy theorist” who was helping Bailey spread misinformation about his policies. “She’s a pro-Russian conspiracy theorist. She’s somebody that since she used to be a genuine Democrat has clearly bought into some of the Facebook vagaries,” he said.
Gabbard returned fire, calling Pritzker’s comments “baseless lies and smears.” “It’s offensive for JB Pritzker to throw out these baseless lies and smears, not only about me but about other great Americans who love our country and want peace,” she said.
Gabbard has been a vocal critic of U.S. intervention in the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger previously criticized Gabbard for circulating “actual Russian propaganda” after she tweeted a video before the invasion that claimed the U.S. funded more than 25 biological weapon labs in Ukraine, according to The Hill. The New York Times conducted a fact check, calling the video’s allegations “baseless.”
Gabbard will appear at a campaign rally with Bailey on Monday night in DuPage County, but Pritzker urged voters not to take the pair’s criticisms at face value.
“I want to make sure that people understand that it’s misinformation that Darren Bailey and his friends are putting out about the SAFE-T Act,” he said.
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