'You've never worked a day in your life,' Bailey responds to Pritzker's campaign ad

[August 05, 2022]  By Andrew Hensel | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Illinois Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey says Gov. J.B. Pritzker has never worked a day in his life in response to a Pritzker ad criticizing Bailey for getting COVID-19 relief funds for his farming operations.

Pritzker, the incumbent Democrat, released a 30-second ad claiming Bailey used millions of state funds for his campaign.

"Darren Bailey has taken over $2 million in government money, the same Darren Bailey who acts like he is against government support," the Pritzker ad says.

The video continues to say that Bailey took money intended for his farm business but used it for his campaign.

Bailey got a fortune in [COVID-19 Paycheck Protection Program] money just weeks before giving $150,000 to his campaign," the ad claims.

Bailey released a video to The Center Square in response to Pritzker's claim. In his video, Bailey took a shot at the Pritzker family fortune.

"J.B. Pritzker, you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth," Bailey said. "You inherited billions of dollars from your family. You have millions stashed away on islands that most people have never heard of. Yet, you have never woken up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat worrying about keeping a job."

The Republican candidate also said the incumbent Democrat has never experienced a hard day's work.

"You have never worked a day in your life, and you will criticize me about how I run my farm. How dare you?" Bailey said. "You are the trust fund kid on the school playground pushing all the regular kids around and making fun of their bagged lunches."

Pritzker, an heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune, is worth $2.6 billion, according to Forbes.com.

According to IllinoisSunshine.org, Pritzker's campaign account has $60.8 million on hand. He's donated a total of $303 million of his personal fortune to his campaign since first running for office in 2018.
 

Bailey has $493,000 on hand as of June 30. Richard Uihlein, the owner of ULINE shipping supplies, has given Bailey $9 million in recent months. Uihlein recently gave People Who Play By The Rules PAC $15 million. The political action committee has in the past run ads favorable to Bailey.

The gubernatorial election will be on Nov 8. Pritzker and Bailey will also face off against Libertarian candidate Scott Schluter.

Andrew Hensel has years of experience as a reporter and pre-game host for the Joliet Slammers, and as a producer for the Windy City Bulls. A graduate of Iowa Wesleyan University and Illinois Media School, Andrew lives in the south suburbs of Chicago. Reuters is solely responsible for this content.