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Democrat Illinois Governor JB Pritzker placed 100% of the blame on the Chicago Bears for the collapse of a new stadium deal, even as the team offered to put up $2 billion of its own money in exchange for simple, predictable, long-term property tax rules.

When a reporter confronted him about blowing billions in taxpayer dollars on illegal aliens while refusing to secure the iconic NFL franchise, Pritzker refused to take accountability and instead blamed Texas Governor Greg Abbott for busing migrants to Chicago.

As The Gateway Pundit reported just days ago, the Chicago Bears Board of Directors voted to advance a world-class stadium project in Hammond, Indiana, after Illinois lawmakers adjourned their session without delivering the tax certainty the team needed at the Arlington Heights site.

Pritzker has spent weeks expressing “disappointment” and claiming he was “surprised” by the Bears’ move, while insisting he would never hand over “billions of taxpayer dollars” to a billionaire-owned team.

Pritzker consistently stated that he would not support direct public funding or specialized multi-billion-dollar subsidies to build a stadium for a privately owned sports franchise.

He maintained that state incentives for a sports team should match those given to any standard business, though he remained open to funding surrounding infrastructure, like highway

The Bears were willing to invest $2 billion privately for a new domed stadium. They simply wanted stable, predictable property tax treatment for decades, something high-tax, Democrat-run Illinois apparently could not guarantee.

During a press conference, Pritzker took a swipe at the Chicago Bears, claiming the team had committed several “fumbles,” failed to present a “complete plan,” and “didn’t show up for the end of the session.”

Gov. JB Pritzker took aim at the Chicago Bears during a press conference, saying the team had some “fumbles,” lacked a “complete plan,” and “didn’t show up for the end of session.”

It’s hard to imagine the Bears wanting to partner with a governor publicly criticizing them while… pic.twitter.com/oNacuKHq8S

— Illinois Review (@IllinoisReview) June 9, 2026

Then came the revealing exchange.

A reporter pressed Pritzker directly on the hypocrisy:

Reporter: On the topic of funding for the Chicago Bears to stay in Chicago, you said that you didn’t want to spend any taxpayer dollars for the Bears to stay.

Governor Pritzker: I said I don’t want to raise taxes to pay for it. That’s for sure.

Reporter: But yet you’ve been more than happy, and even proud, to spend billions of taxpayer dollars on illegal aliens.

Governor Pritzker: No, that’s not true.

Reporter: We all know that the Bears generate revenue.

Governor Pritzker: Yes, 100%.

Reporter: Migrants typically are a drain on taxpayer dollars. Do you think that, long term, especially when you’re running for President of the United States, losing the Chicago Bears will be a bad decision?

Governor Pritzker: William, you’ve conflated a lot and mistakenly presented the history. You may not recall that it was the governor of Texas, Abbott, who decided to throw people onto buses and ship them across the country—55,000 of them—to the city of Chicago and the state of Illinois. We didn’t get much help from the federal government to deal with that.

And so, the question you have to ask yourself is: in a humanitarian crisis, when people are arriving in the middle of winter, often without proper clothing, certainly without food and without shelter, were we just going to let them starve, freeze, and be on the streets? The answer was no.

What we had hoped was that the federal government would assist in this, or that Governor Abbott would stop shipping people across the country to very cold climates. But we did what we needed to do to make sure that they stayed alive and were able to thrive. Many of them found other places to go, which is great.

But you’ve mischaracterized what happened back then.

WATCH:

After the Chicago Bears’ $2 billion offer for a new stadium in exchange for predictable, long-term property tax rules, Governor Pritzker was unable to negotiate the deal and placed 100% of the blame on the Bears. When confronted with blowing billions of taxpayer dollars on… pic.twitter.com/HQFOcjXvn3

— I Meme Therefore I Am 🇺🇸 (@ImMeme0) June 9, 2026

Illinois has already spent or committed over $2.5 billion on migrant housing, healthcare, food, and services — with costs continuing to explode under Pritzker’s watch, according to Illinois Policy.

Screenshot Jim Hᴏft Jim Hᴏft is the founder and editor of The Gateway Pundit, one of the top conservative news outlets in America. Jim was awarded the Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Award in 2013 and is the proud recipient of the Breitbart Award for Excellence in Online Journalism from the Americans for Prosperity Foundation in May 2016.

You can email Jim Hᴏft here, and read more of Jim Hᴏft's articles here.

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