SE Illinois News

State Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Louisville) isn’t surprised by the “complete fail” grade Gov. J.B. Pritzker was handed by the Brownstone Institute over his handling of COVID mitigations.

Now seeking the GOP nomination for governor, Bailey blasts the governor’s actions as the wrong choice for the state.

“Let’s not forget that I sued him over it and it was rendered he was illegal in his actions,” Bailey told the SE Illinois News. “He was only able to continue the mitigations because he struck so much fear in people. Even with all the mitigations, our situation with COVID is no better than any place else where they didn't have all the mitigations in place.”

The Brownstone study composed data from every state from March 2020 through April 2021, with Pritzker receiving worse than an F – he was graded as a “complete fail.”

Researchers said, “there’s a special place for governors that locked kids out of classrooms for a year and a half, ordered sick COVID-19 patients back into nursing homes, did not practice their own orders, shut down tens of thousands of businesses and still couldn’t beat the U.S. average in COVID-19 deaths or excess all-cause deaths.”

Bailey said it all comes back to Pritzker not understanding the needs and values of so many of the communities he’s supposed to represent.

“He has no idea about or regard for the constituency of any district,” he said. “He’s a billionaire that’s never had to work a day of his life for anything and has no ability to relate to regular people.”

Bailey charges everything the governor has done led to more heartache and pain for many.

“He feels he has no reason to consult anyone or consider anyone else’s opinion because he has everything at his disposal,” he said. “When you feel you have everything, you have no idea what rules mean. This is what his class does. They get away from the problems and leave it to others to deal with.”

When it comes to the mitigations, Bailey said they were uncalled for.

“I think the mask mandates are doing more harm than good,” he said. "The masks cannot stop the virus and I think mandating them is detrimental to our children on so many levels.”

Bailey said the people of his district and all across the state are much worse off than they need to under Pritzker’s rule.

“There’s no way we can afford to have four more years of this or the state will be a complete shell of itself,” he said.

The Prairie State Wire reported Theodora “Teddi” Pritzker spent New Year’s Eve in the Bahamas in a nightclub environment without a mask after her father urged residents to stay home.

"Omicron and delta are coming to your party so you need to think twice about how many people will be gathered together, keep social distancing if you’re at a party. And if you cannot, leave,” Pritzker said a press conference prior to the New Year’s holiday.