Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said a reporter’s question about allegations his wife left the state to go to Florida amid the coronavirus was “reprehensible.”
A reporter working for Patch in Illinois said sources told him that Pritzker’s wife, M.K. Pritzker, traveled outside of the state to spend her time at the couple’s house in Florida despite the governor pushing residents to remain home during the pandemic.
“Specifically, the first lady has been spending time at their $12-million equestrian estate in Wellington, just down the horse trail from Bruce Springsteen, Bill Gates and Billy Joel, the family purchased shortly after J.B. was elected governor last year,” Patch reporter Mark Konkol wrote in a piece published Monday.
Pritzker was asked about the report on Wednesday during a press conference.
“Where is the first lady? Is she accompanied by a state security detail? Has she engaged in nonessential travel? What is your response to people who say the stay-at-home order and nonessential travel bans aren’t being abided by your family?” the reporter asked.
Pritzker refused to answer.
“Well, first of all, I want to say that in, in politics, it used to be that we kept our families out of it,” Pritzker said. “My official duties have nothing to do with my family. So, I’m just not going to answer that question. It's inappropriate, and I find it reprehensible, honestly that, that that reporter wrote a story about it.”
Pritzker announced last week he was extending the state’s stay-at-home order until May 30.
“The projections are clear: If we lifted the stay-at-home order tomorrow, we would see our deaths per day shoot into the thousands by the end of May, and that would last well into the summer. Our hospitals would be full, and very sick people would have nowhere to go," Pritzker said when he made the announcement.
