For some reason, Illinois’ Democrat Gov. J.B. Pritzker – much like his California counterpart Gavin Newsom – thinks taking periodic swipes at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is a good idea.

Unfortunately for both of them, DeSantis is usually able to knock them down with without breaking a sweat, exposing their two-faced nature in the process.

That is exactly how things played out last Thursday and Friday after an obviously triggered Pritzker issued a buzzword-filled statement denouncing DeSantis’ upcoming visit to his state ahead of an anticipated 2024 presidential announcement.

“Ron DeSantis swears that he is fighting to protect people’s ‘freedoms,’ but he has no problem taking away their reproductive rights, attacking schools and libraries to limit what parents and teachers want for their students, disregarding the humanity of LGBTQ people, and failing to protect people of color seeking to live free from discrimination,” Pritzker proclaimed.

“DeSantis has made a career of punching down and othering anyone who doesn’t subscribe to his petty tyranny, which makes him a natural fit for the GOP’s Lincoln Day dinner,” he continued, while also taking a swipe at DeSantis’ second-place standing in some polling on the GOP presidential primary race.

“In Illinois,” Pritzker went on to say, “we reject the cruelty he espouses and stand firmly against his hateful agenda.”

Not surprisingly, DeSantis was loaded for bear Friday during the speech he was invited to give at a Peoria Lincoln Day Dinner, zeroing in on the “woke” policies of Illinois that he says have made life more dangerous for the state’s residents – especially children, while also pointing out something Pritzker hates to see mentioned – the fact that during the early days of the COVID pandemic and when Pritzker was busy locking his state down, he actually sent his family to Florida, where his wife and daughter spent several weeks:

“I’m a little disappointed your governor said I wasn’t welcome in Illinois,” DeSantis said in response to remarks made by Pritzker ahead of his arrival. “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.”

DeSantis also noted that unlike Pritzker, he never declared his state off-limits to his political opponents and their families:

DeSantis, responding to Gov. Pritzker's statement ahead of his visit: “I’m a little bit disappointed that your governor said I wasn’t welcome in Illinois…when he was locking down this state, he sent his family to live in my state..I didn’t say they weren't welcome in Florida.” https://t.co/2HKgbYuCVV

— Kit Maher (@KitMaherCNN) May 13, 2023

In late April 2020 when the story was first reported, Pritzker angrily pulled the “family privacy” card when asked about their whereabouts, but ultimately it was confirmed that family members were indeed staying in Florida and had been since mid-March of that year at the billionaire governor’s Florida horse farm:

“The first thing I’d like to say is that in politics it used to be that we kept our families out of it,” said Pritzker. “My official duties have nothing to do with my family. So, I’m not going to answer that question. It’s inappropriate and I find it reprehensible, honestly that that a reporter wrote a story about it.”

Despite Pritzker finding it “reprehensible” that a powerful government official like himself would be called out by the press and GOP governors for his staggering “rules for thee” hypocrisy, DeSantis has continued to raise the point, something we saw during another trip to Illinois he took back in February, where talked about how the situation was like a “cottage industry” where blue state politicos would slam him for keeping Florida from putting draconian orders in place and then would turn around and visit the state for vacations and extended trips:

DeSantis takes a shot at Pritzker for closing down the state during covid yet Pritzker family members were visiting Florida, which stayed open. pic.twitter.com/dW4EqqlbeK

— Natasha Korecki (@natashakorecki) February 20, 2023

It’s true. In addition to Pritzker’s family, Florida also saw visits from other notoriously hypocritical Democrats and their enablers in the press like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), failed 2021 Virginia Democratic gubernatorial nominee Terry McAuliffe, New Jersey Gov. Phil “Mandates” Murphy, and fired former CNN anchor Don Lemon, the latter of who all but literally accused people who are opposed to vaccine mandates of being “murderers.”

As I’ve said before, despite their protestations to the contrary, not even DeSantis’ staunchest detractors have been able to stop themselves from partaking in the many opportunities offered in the Sunshine State to relax and unwind and to enjoy the freedoms that come along with it, which just goes to further demonstrate that when it comes right down to it, DeSantis just keeps on beating these people at their own games, which might be the reason residents from blue states just keep flocking to states like his.

As RedState deputy managing editor Susie Moore once wrote, perhaps governors in these states should maybe try learning from DeSantis and his successes instead of bashing him:

Given the number of residents fleeing New York and Illinois and flocking to Florida, perhaps Governors Hochul and Pritzker would do well to take their cues from DeSantis before the Florida Man eats their lunch.

‘Nuff said.

Flashback: A Virtue Signaling Ron DeSantis Critic Gets Her Just Deserts After Embarrassing Video Surfaces