JB Pritzker claims Trump is 'suffering from dementia', says he 'doesn’t understand what he’s saying'

WASHINGTON, DC: Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said President Donald Trump is “suffering from dementia” and incapable of understanding his own words during an appearance on CNN’s ‘The Source’ with host Kaitlan Collins on Tuesday, June 30.

The sparring was sparked by comments Trump made Monday in the Oval Office, where the president said that communism is a bigger threat to the United States in 2026 than all World Wars, the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the September 11 terrorist attacks combined. Collins passed the remarks on to Pritzker and asked for his reaction.

JB Pritzker says Donald Trump 'blurts things out without really thinking'

"Look, the man is continually suffering from dementia," Pritzker said. "I don't think he really understands what he's saying."

“He says they’re the greatest threat to the country since its founding,” Collins told Pritzker. “And he said that includes World War I, World War II, Pearl Harbor, and 9/11.”

Pritzker, who has been publicly floated as a potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender, has been an outspoken critic of Trump throughout the president's second term.

Trump, for his part, has not shied away from targeting Pritzker in return. In one widely noted instance, the president posted an AI-generated image mocking the governor's weight on social media.

The governor went on to describe a pattern he said he had observed in Trump's public conduct, pointing to the president's threats against elected officials and his use of the Justice Department.

"This is a man who has threatened to jail the mayor of Chicago, the governor of Illinois. He regularly threatens to go after people and indeed has used the Department of Justice to go after people. So, you know, I think he has these concepts in his head and he blurts them out without really thinking," Pritzker said.

JB Pritzker's remarks come amid broader debate over Trump's health

Pritzker’s comments come as questions about Trump’s health and fitness have been drawing more attention from Democrats and some in the media.

Earlier this month, Quinnipiac University published a poll in which 59% of voters said they don’t think the White House is being transparent about the president’s health, and 51% of respondents said they believe Trump is not mentally well based on what they have seen and heard.

The White House has pushed back consistently on such characterizations.

Trump's physician, Sean P Barbabella, said in a memo following the president's most recent physical that Trump "remains in excellent health" and that a neurological exam "demonstrated normal mental status," adding that Trump is "fully fit to carry out all duties of the Commander-in-Chief and Head of State."

Collins's interview with Pritzker came a day after three candidates backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, won primary races in New York, two of them defeating Democratic incumbents, a result that has deepened debate within the Democratic Party over its direction ahead of the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential election.