What happened: Ron DeSantis, the overwhelmingly popular Republican governor of Florida, is feuding with J.B. Pritzker, the obese billionaire and Democratic governor of Illinois, a crime-riddled cesspool of political corruption.
• DeSantis gave the keynote address at the Lincoln Day Dinner in Peoria, Ill., on Friday. Days earlier, Pritzker released an angsty statement accusing the Florida governor of "punching down and othering" people who don't agree with his "hateful agenda."
• In response, DeSantis reminded the audience during his speech that Pritzker had sent members of his family to stay in Florida during the COVID-19 pandemic between March and May 2020.
What they're saying: "In Illinois, we reject the cruelty [DeSantis] espouses and stand firmly against his hateful agenda," Pritzker said last week.
DeSantis fired back. "I'm a little disappointed your governor said I wasn't welcome in Illinois," he said Friday. "Because I seem to remember when he was locking down this state, he sent his family to live in my state and live in our freedom."
By the numbers: Florida's population increased by 3 percent between 2020 and 2022. During that same period, Illinois's population shrank by 1.6 percent as residents fled the high taxes, high crime rates, and rampant corruption enabled by the Democratic politicians who control the state.
Pritzker in November 2018 purchased a 6.4 acre horse farm in Wellington, Fla., for $12.1 million. Its value has since increased by nearly 50 percent to an estimated $18.1 million. The property features 30 horse stalls manufactured in Norwich, England, as well as "paddocks, world-class riding arena, walker, manager's apartment, owners' lounge, office, commercial laundry, and much more!"
Why it matters: Pritzker really wants to be president someday, perhaps as early as 2024 in the event that 80-year-old Joe Biden drops dead or is otherwise incapacitated. That is why he keeps attacking DeSantis. That is why he bribed the DNC to hold the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next year.
In reality, Pritzker has precisely no chance of ever winning the Democratic Party's nomination for president. He should ask Michael Bloomberg what it's like to be an arrogant and abnormally sized billionaire running in the Democratic primary against a bunch of actual socialists and schoolmarm scolds like Elizabeth Warren.
Bottom line: Florida is better than Illinois and everyone knows it. Even the libs.