Too far?
Wednesday, May 20, 2026 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Monday…
Reporter: I’d like to get a little more information about the Mayor of Chicago. He has said repeatedly he has the only fleshed-out plan [for a Bears stadium]
Pritzker: He has no plan, there’s no plan [laughs]
Reporter: He’s also floated this idea now to have the city take over the ISFA. Have you seen that? Have you said anything to him about it?
Pritzker: No. And in fact, this is kind of typical. The mayor has shown up every spring at the end of session to pronounce what he would like to see happen.
* Matt McGill interviewed Mayor Johnson on WVON yesterday. I agree with McGill that the governor’s statements seemed pretty darned harsh. McGill prefaced a question to the mayor with this…
McGill: I want you to have an opportunity to explain your position on the Bears because I just couldn’t believe the governor actually got in front of a microphone and said what he said yesterday. I have no problem with him feeling the way that he feels. But that conversation should be in private. And you know when I point to this is what’s wrong with the Democratic Party, I don’t want to have to use an example of the person who is supposed to be the leader of the Democratic Party in the state. See, this is the example of what I’m talking about. And just statements by the governor yesterday to take a shot at you yesterday was uncalled for, unprofessional, absolutely unprofessional.
He went on, but let’s stop there. Johnson, by the way, didn’t say he agreed with what McGill said above.
* Gov. Pritzker at an unrelated press conference this morning…
Isabel: Do you think you may have gone a little overboard with your criticism of Mayor Johnson this week? WVON’s Matt McGill said that your statements about the mayor having no Bears plan were ‘absolutely unprofessional,’ and that should have been made in private, one party leader to another.
Pritzker: I was asked the question, I’m always honest with my answers. The truth is that there’s only one opportunity to keep the Chicago Bears in the state of Illinois, and that’s passing a bill that would help keep them in Arlington Heights, because the Bears have looked at Chicago, they decided that they don’t want to be and can’t be in Chicago, and so there’s really only one other option. And I want them to stay in the city. I think people who are opposed to the bill don’t want them to stay in the city, and so that was the nature of my, to the extent it was criticism, my criticism.
Isabel: Have you reached out to the mayor’s office, chat, maybe simmer down some of the back and forth that’s been going on?
Pritzker: No, this is 24 hours you’re talking about. We’re all busy, and you know the mayor and I are friends, even if we disagree on some things here and there. And so there’s no real need to reach out. The legislature is going to work on it this week, and I’m hopeful that the people who want to tank the bill are not successful.
Please pardon any transcription errors.
Discuss.
- Think Again - Wednesday, May 20, 26 @ 12:12 pm:
= He has no plan, there’s no plan [laughs]=
While JB is trying to assert leadership/leverage over Mayor Johnson. To those who are not Dem insiders, it sure seems like political dysfunction and a house divided.
- Jerry - Wednesday, May 20, 26 @ 12:17 pm:
Please let the Bears go to Indiana. This just isn’t worth the time or money for a business (TV studio?) that is only open 10-12 days a year. The McCaskeys do not have the money for this. No one will care.
- Melvin - Wednesday, May 20, 26 @ 12:33 pm:
It would be interesting to see a chart showing how many times, over the last 189 years, have the mayor of Chicago and the governor of Illinois been in alignment. It’s just what we do in this state.
- Three Dimensional Checkers - Wednesday, May 20, 26 @ 12:34 pm:
I did not think it was too far. Mayor Johnson does not have a plan to keep the Bears in Chicago. That is just a fact. In reality, the Mayor is trying to leverage the Governor to bailout the City. However, the Mayor just is not that powerful.
- Excitable Boy - Wednesday, May 20, 26 @ 12:35 pm:
It wasn’t too far. Too many reporters lend credibility to “plans” that don’t actually exist, JB was right to shut that down.
- Pundent - Wednesday, May 20, 26 @ 12:40 pm:
There’s a pattern here that began several years’ ago. Whether it’s school funding, the Bears, or new taxation. In each instance the Mayor shows up in Springfield at the 11th hour and casts blame all the while failing to acknowledge that he’s been AWOL through the budgeting and legislative process. At some point enough is enough and the Governor is right to call him out on it.
- 40,000 ft - Wednesday, May 20, 26 @ 12:47 pm:
“The mayor has shown up every spring at the end of session to pronounce what he would like to see happen.”
Good for Pritzker, comedy gold with an nice edge of truth.
- Save Ferris - Wednesday, May 20, 26 @ 12:47 pm:
Bashing someone as inept as Brandon Johnson, especially on a topic like the Bears where he’s trying to deal himself back into a game from which he’s been removed and told that he’s not welcome, is a good strategy.
- B - Wednesday, May 20, 26 @ 12:50 pm:
Ah thats what is wrong with the democratic party. Meanwhile the total professionalism of the GOP is just such a stark contrast.
1 party continues to get judged on a scale of having to be perfect while the other party isnt judged for being absolutely insane and unhinged and unprofessional.
I legit can not stand where this country is today.
- Flyin' Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Wednesday, May 20, 26 @ 1:00 pm:
Pritzker sure didn’t hide his light under a bushel.
Aren’t we citizens always clamoring for a politician that shoots straight?
The Bears can kick sand. They haven’t been relevant since Ditka fell bass ackwards into a bucket of luck with Ryan’s D.
Don’t tell me about last season when they didn’t win squat.
Move to Indy. I understand that site is pure as the driven snow. Socioeconomically, and environmentally.
- Stephen - Wednesday, May 20, 26 @ 1:01 pm:
The Governor starts out by saying, “I’m always honest with my answers.”
But then immediately proves himself wrong by saying, “You know the mayor and I are friends.”
- Iron Duke - Wednesday, May 20, 26 @ 1:15 pm:
The NFL had 23 of the 25 highest viewed television broadcasts in 2025.
One World Series game ranked 13th and one Winter Olympics broadcast ranked 22nd.
Are the 31 teams who didn’t win the Super Bowl last year are irrelevant too or it just the Bears?
https://ustvdb.com/seasons/2025-26/ratings/
- Incandenza - Wednesday, May 20, 26 @ 1:21 pm:
=== bashing === === harsh ===
Do words have a meaning anymore?
- Shytown - Wednesday, May 20, 26 @ 1:23 pm:
Screw these conversations being in “private”.
Mayor Johnson has shown zero - zero - willingness to be an honest broker in working with the governor or Springfield leadership on the Bears from Day 1. He and the Bears are the reason we are where we are today, not the Gov, nor Welch or Harmon.
He’s unengaged and tosses out wild ideas, like IFSA, just like Trump throws out the distraction of the day, so people won’t pay attention to the disaster going on that is his lack of Springfield agenda (or any agenda for that matter).
I fully endorse the Gov for calling this out and being honest - there is no plan. And Johnson doesn’t deserve the courtesy of a “private” conversation about this when he’s spending every day attacking and pointing fingers at everyone else, including the Gov, because things aren’t going his way.
Let this nightmare be over, please.
- Pot calling kettle - Wednesday, May 20, 26 @ 1:31 pm:
If anything, the Mayor’s assertion that he has a plan is even less professional because he’s implying that something that does not exist is on the table and should be taken seriously.
- DS - Wednesday, May 20, 26 @ 1:41 pm:
Has anyone gone through old Boers & Bernstein tapes to see whether there was a “Westside Brandon” caller? Because the mayor being a meatball is the only thing I can figure that explains his behavior with respect to the Bears.
- Bob - Wednesday, May 20, 26 @ 1:54 pm:
“I’m always honest with my answers.”
But not about his health.
- Archpundit - Wednesday, May 20, 26 @ 2:03 pm:
Good friends deliver the messages you need to hear the most.
- low level - Wednesday, May 20, 26 @ 2:07 pm:
I see absolutely nothing wrong with what the Governor said and was glad to read his comments. Spot on.
- Montrose - Wednesday, May 20, 26 @ 2:21 pm:
My question is - and this is a sincere question - aren’t the city’s lobbyist down in Springfield advocating for the Mayor’s priorities all session? The Mayor making his token appearance down there in May should just be a tiny piece of a session-long legislative strategy. Is his trip really the first time the city is talking to decision makers about what they want from Springfield?
- Stuart - Wednesday, May 20, 26 @ 2:52 pm:
One can read it anyway they like…the point is Pritzker is going down a slippery slope in bashing a big city black progressive mayor in Mayor Johnson. This is the start of Pritzker, Welch, and Harmon wearing the mantle of the Bears leaving Chicago. Based on the feedback of the callers on WVON..I dont think Gov Pritzker gained any supporters.
- Pundent - Wednesday, May 20, 26 @ 3:12 pm:
=This is the start of Pritzker, Welch, and Harmon wearing the mantle of the Bears leaving Chicago.=
I think the start was when the Bears bought a big piece of land in Arlington Heights. To the extent ideas were floated for stadiums in Chicago or Hammond it was merely an effort by the team to create leverage. And they needed that leverage because they made their intentions clear up front.
- low level - Wednesday, May 20, 26 @ 3:54 pm:
==going down a slippery slope==
Mayor Johnson showed how clueless he is last December when he couldnt get his budget passed the city council. That has never happened before in anyone’s memory. The opposition was lead by the Chair of the Finance Committee, who is a Black woman. No wonder he cant make any progress in Springfield. He cant even get his agenda passed in Chicago much less the state capitol.
Thats not a slippery slope - that is what happened.
- JSI - Wednesday, May 20, 26 @ 4:13 pm:
The Bears are leaving soldier field and Chicago. That seems like a done deal. Kudos to the Governor and legislative leaders for at least trying to convince them to stay in Illinois and not giftwrapping them for Indiana. I get why the Mayor isn’t happy and I applaud the Governor for choosing to represent more than just Chicago.
- Sigh - Wednesday, May 20, 26 @ 4:14 pm:
There is a small northern city with a population of 110,000 or so that has managed to construct two separate football stadiums with less drama than this. It is an embarrassment that the Chicago Bears have not owned their own stadium since the team’s inception.
Enough already.
- The Farm Grad - Wednesday, May 20, 26 @ 4:21 pm:
Governor Pritzker “showed how clueless he is” as he continues to insist that the McCaksey family and its 10B sports team secure hundreds of millions of dollars in property tax relief, while allowing working-class households in the southern suburbs to pay upwards of 5% (of home’s value) in property taxes
- Leslie K - Wednesday, May 20, 26 @ 5:36 pm:
I think JB’s comments are both accurate and reasonable. MBJ continues to act like a toddler, has no Bears plan, and apparently has no Springfield ground game for much of anything. What is JB supposed to do, pretend none of that is true while the mayor continues to take swipes at him?
I think the Gov is actually being pretty measured in his responses at this point.
- Frida’s Boss - Wednesday, May 20, 26 @ 7:19 pm:
Would McGill ask the same question if SDG is unprofessional to most elected officials who don’t agree with her?
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, May 20, 26 @ 7:25 pm:
===Would McGill ask the same question if===
Stick to the topic at hand instead of suggesting something like that.
- Just Sayin' - Wednesday, May 20, 26 @ 8:55 pm:
Does anyone on this site disagree with JB? Its 100% accurate. MBJ and team do not do their work they show up late and then have a year to blame “Springfield” as an excuse.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, May 20, 26 @ 10:14 pm:
===Does anyone on this site disagree with JB?===
Yeah, the owner.
- Candy Dogood - Wednesday, May 20, 26 @ 11:32 pm:
===But not about his health. ===
+1
===Does anyone on this site disagree with JB?===
Sorry — was a bit busy today to timely comment but I did comment on this yesterday. I’ll be happy to offer one today, too. Team Pritzker keeps their roster pretty small and tends to treat everyone that isn’t on that team like they’re playing for the opposition even when they’re not, have never played for the opposition, never rooted for the opposition, and are in the same dugout as Team Pritzker.
There might not be anyway to convince the Chicago Bears to stay in Chicago, but that doesn’t mean that the Mayor of Chicago or any legislators from Chicago should be happy about the state supporting the team’s decision to screw Chicago because after we gave them everything they wanted they changed their mind. STAR Bonds are just another way to say “taxpayer money” and “infrastructure” is just another way to say “things that are required to build a stadium, but not technically a stadium.”
There are better ways to discuss whatever plan the Mayor might have, even if his plan doesn’t exist or even if the Governor hasn’t heard about his plan. Especially since the Governor doesn’t know about everything that is happening — but that’s not the route he went with his remarks yesterday.
It does beg the question — what’s the Governor’s plan? Blame the legislator when he signs a bill that “keeps the Bears in Illinois” while screwing over the City of Chicago and using public funds to build a stadium for a billionaire family? Pardon, use public funds to build “infrastructure.”
The Governor’s plan sounds a lot like “give the billionaires what they want.” Even if I agree with him that it is the only way to keep the Bears in Illinois, it’s still giving the billionaires what they want.