Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker says he’s ‘given up’ on coronavirus help from the Trump administration

CNN — Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Tuesday that he has “given up” on receiving federal assistance to help combat the novel coronavirus pandemic, saying instead that his state is “doing what we need to do despite” President Donald Trump. I’ve given up on any promises that have been made,” Pritzker, a Democrat, told CNN’s Erin Burnett on “OutFront.” “I hope something will get delivered from the federal government, but I don’t expect it anymore.” His comments follow the President’s statement earlier Tuesday at a White House news conference that governors “are supposed to do testing” for Covid-19, despite many state leaders saying they need federal assistance to do so. For Illinois, Pritzker said Tuesday, “the President at this point is near irrelevant when it comes to this question of testing.” Pritzker, an outspoken state leader during the pandemic, has expressed frustration before over how Trump has handled the federal response to the outbreak. He previously said he had told the Trump administration his state needed 4,000 ventilators, and he told CNN’s Jake Tapper that the President’s inaction on states’ requests had created a “a Wild West” environment for procuring much-needed medical supplies.