About

J.B. Pritzker, full name Jay Robert Pritzker, is an American businessman, philanthropist and politician serving as the 43rd Governor of Illinois, who took office on January 14th, 2019. Since entering taking office, Pritzker has frequently been the subject of memes online, typically revolving around his demeanor, size and mannerisms. In summer 2022, a meme trend both ironically and unironically boosted Pritzker as a potential candidate for the 2024 U.S. Democratic presidential nomination.

History

J.B. Pritzker was born in 1965 and is an heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune. As of July 2022, his net worth is estimated to be $3.6 billion. Prior to his entrance into the world of politics, Pritzker had a career as a businessman and philanthropist, founding the acclaimed 1871 business incubator in Chicago, Illinois.^[1]

Political Career

Pritzker's 2018 campaign for Governor was largely self-funded, with the billionaire reportedly spending $171.5 million on the race.^[2] As Governor, Pritzker has been largely praised by Democrats for following through on his agenda, and his name is often floated as a possible contender for the 2024 presidential election.

Online Presence

Since running for office in 2018 and entering the public sphere, Pritzker has been the subject of many memes in large part because of his personal demeanor, size and mannerisms. For example, the TikTok account @pritzkermemes, which was founded in 2020, features clips from Pritzker's speeches set to out-of-context captions talking about scenarios related to partying, drinking and relationships. A notable TikTok from the page (seen below) shared on March 10th, 2022, gained almost 5,000 likes and over 133,000 views in the course of four months.^[3] The account was also featured in a brief article by Chicago Magazine in February 2022.^[4]

In late June 2022, memes and tweets about Pritzker as a possible 2024 presidential contender spread rapidly on social media platforms like Twitter. Often, the joke in these memes makes a comparison to former President Donald Trump. In such memes, leftist Democrats typically portray an ironic cult-like devotion to Pritzker while highlighting the fact that, like Trump, he was a "rotund billionaire."

Memes about Pritzker often spoof QAnon and conspiracy type meme tropes. One such meme (seen below) posted by the Twitter account @PritzkerForPrez (also called Socialists for Pritzker) on July 1st, 2022, earned over 1,600 likes in the course of a week.^[5]

Another tweet about Pritzker (seen below) was posted by Twitter^[6] user @govmikeyd on July 4th, 2022, receiving over 2,800 likes in two days while comparing him to Senator Bernie Sanders.

Search Interest

External References