Illinois Becomes First State To Make Book Bans ILLEGAL

Democratic governor JB Pritzker of Illinois made his state the first in the nation to outlaw the banning of books. While other states are trying to restrict content from their libraries, the Democratic Governor decided to go the complete opposite direction by restricting the restrictions. This is a huge step in the right direction, and other Democratic-controlled states need to make similar moves as quickly as possible. Ring of Fire's Farron Cousins discusses this.

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*This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos.

Red states across the country are banning books left and right. We have had thousands of requests from parents across the country to ban books in libraries, public libraries, school libraries, school classrooms, whatever it is. Republicans want these books gone because they might open up a student's mind to things that they don't see every day. To the reality that transgender people exist, that gay people exist, that black people exist, and yes, those are the kinds of books that Republicans are having banned. Well, the state of Illinois, under the control of Democratic Governor, JB Pritzker, decided to go the opposite route this week, and Pritzker actually signed legislation, banning book bans, Pritzker's not banning books. He's banning book bans, and that is now the law in the state of Illinois. They have now become the first state in the country to make book banning illegal. Here is what Pritzker said after signing this legislation here in Illinois, we don't hide from the truth. We embrace it. Young people shouldn't be kept from learning about the realities of our world. I want them to become critical thinkers, exposed to ideas that they disagree with, proud of what our nation has become and thoughtful about what comes next. How dare you make them afraid? Because you are, everyone deserves to see themselves reflected in the books. They read the art, they see the history they learn. In Illinois, we are showing the nation what it really looks like to stand up for liberty.

I, I love that speech. That is a, that is a phenomenal speech. I don't know if he wrote it or if he has a speech writer that did that, but whoever wrote those words, you have my respect and admiration, because that was powerful. In fact, that's the kind of powerful message that we actually want to hear from a president or at least a presidential candidate. Are you listening, Pritzker? I hope you are, because this is a bold move. This is a strong move. This is a leadership move. This is standing up to the oppression that we are seeing in red states, like the one that I live in, and you're the first blue state to do it. I mean, there's other states that are way bluer than Illinois folks, and they haven't even done this. And I think part of the reason for that is because many of these deep blue states out there in the country are so blue that they have lost touch with what the rest of us are facing. Oh, yeah, they're banning books, but that's 2000 miles away down in the American

South. We're up here and you know, the Pacific Northwest or you know, the West Coast. We don't have to worry about that. We don't have to think about it. It's not even on the border of the state bordering us, but for those of us living in this reality, to finally see a democratic governor stand up and say, oh, hell no, we're not doing that. That's leadership. That's more leadership than I have seen from any other Democrat running a state in this country. And if the rest of them don't follow suit, then I think JB Pritzker already has the upper hand in running for president in 2028.