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Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker showed off his swagger in a tongue-in-cheek social media video Monday, prompting a wave of mockery from critics online.
The video, recorded in black and white and notching more than 1 million views, features Pritzker making a variety of model-like expressions at the camera behind a caption that reads “when you’re in an aura-farming contest and your opponent in JB.” Aura-farming is a common piece of slang used to describe the taking of certain actions with the explicit goal of acquiring swag.
Many social media users did not agree with Pritzker’s assessment of himself.
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Post made to Gov. JB Pritzker’s X account on Aug. 24. (X/@JBPritzker)
“Only thing bigger than the ratio this tweet is getting is…well,” White House deputy assistant to the president Kaelan Dorr posted in response to the video.
“Pritzker is kind of a medical marvel,” conservative commentator Matt Walsh wrote. “He looks gaunt and frail from Ozempic and also still morbidly obese at the exact same time. He’s taking the concept of ‘skinny fat’ to places never thought possible.”
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Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker holds a news conference in Chicago, Wednesday, June 24, 2026, to sign the Reproductive Health Records Privacy Act (HB 5295) into law. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Pritzker wrote the phrase “governor-maxxing” alongside his video on X. “Maxxing” as a suffix denotes that someone is doing something in a highly optimized way. “Looks-maxxing,” for instance, refers to the act of taking one’s appearance, physical fitness, and demeanor seriously as to maximize attractiveness.
Some on social media used the governor’s phrasing to poke fun at him.
Brian Costin, who is a high-level staffer at a right-of-center advocacy group in Illinois, accused Pritzker of “property-tax-maxxing,” “state-and-local-tax-burden-maxxing,” “cell-phone-tax-maxxing,” “gas-tax-hike-maxxing,” and “blaming-everyone-else-maxxing,” among other things.
Others focused on his weight, claiming that Pritzker was “buffet-maxxing” or “waistline-maxxing.”
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker speaks to members of the media at Manny’s Cafeteria and Delicatessen during a primary election in Chicago, Illinois, on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. A Senate Democratic primary in Illinois to pick the successor to Senator Dick Durbin could turn on campaign dollars and differences on immigration policy (Credit: Christopher Dilts / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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“When you’re a grown nepo-kid and believe you’re as impressive as the people you’re paying say you are,” Fox Business anchor David Asman said of Pritzker, whose father, Donald Pritzker, helped build the Hyatt hotel chain with his brother Jay.
Pritzker has a history of making widely mocked social media posts, including his frequent attempts to spar with the president.
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“Might be the cringiest thing he’s ever posted, and that is saying a lot,” RealClearPolitics president Tom Bevan wrote.
Pritzker’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
