In an interview with NPR during last week’s Democratic National Convention, House Speaker Mike Madigan tied his primary political opponent, Gov. Bruce Rauner, to divisive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
“Bruce Rauner is of record that he will fully support the Trump candidacy,” Madigan told Illinois Public Radio Statehouse Bureau Chief Amanda Finicky and WBBM radio’s Craig Dellimore in the interview that aired Monday.
“It’s documented, it’s available. He’s trying to backpedal by not attending the Republican convention in Cleveland, but he is of record that he fully supports Trump,” Madigan added.
Rauner made it clear that he wouldn’t endorse Trump or attend the convention in May. However, the governor previously said he would support Trump if he became the Republican presidential nominee in March.
"If you study the statements and the actions of both men, you’ll see a great similarity in their methods and how they castigate people and how they’re always criticizing people without ever talking about their own programs,” Madigan said. "And so I think I'm fully justified in linking Trump and Rauner together in extremism”
Nevertheless, Madigan predicted that Trump's methods would be rejected by most voters in November and that Americans would ultimately support Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
"Trump has his methods, he has his ways of doing things and I think at the end of the day, the majority of Americans are going to say, 'that really doesn't have a place in America,'" Madigan said. "America is a country that recognizes decency and tolerance and respect for others."
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Madigan, who has served as Illinois’ house speaker since 1983 with the exception of only two years, claimed that Americans want spirited debate and compromise, not extremism.
He related that method to Illinois’ current deficit problem, claiming that the problem should have been dealt with a year and a half ago using a “balanced approach” including spending reductions and new revenue.
The speaker, who also serves as the Democratic Party of Illinois chair, said Rauner’s Turnaround Agenda, which deals with things like workers compensation and collective bargaining, has gotten in the way of dealing with the state’s deficit.
Madigan also faulted the governor for stifling the state's Monetary Award Program, which provides grants for low-income college students.
“What we need is for the governor to become reasonable, to recognize that Illinois is not some extreme right state in the right part of America," Madigan said. "It’s a moderate state, it’s in the middle of the country. It’s a mainstream state, and the people of Illinois expect the public officials in the state not to be extreme, but to be reasonable.”
A spokesperson from the governor's office said Rauner is "100 percent focused on Illinois, growing our economy and getting good government reform like term limits."
