Trump Tries to Clown Pritzker’s Shape, but Critics Say the Only Thing Rounder Than the Insult Is Trump’s Own Waistline
President Donald Trump transformed this year’s Thanksgiving turkey pardon into a political spectacle, veering sharply from the normally light-hearted White House tradition to launch personal insults at Democratic leaders.
Standing at the podium during what is typically a scripted, almost ceremonial moment, Trump dismissed Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson as unfit to do his job before targeting Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker with body-focused insults that instantly dominated social media conversations.
Trump’s pivot began as he argued that Chicago should accept federal intervention to address crime and safety issues.
“It should make the front of every newspaper; it’s out of control. The mayor is incompetent, and the governor is a big fat slob. He ought to invite us in, say, ‘Please make Chicago safe.’ We’re going to lose a great city if we don’t do it quickly,” the president said.
People were taken aback on social media, considering how out of shape he looks.
“Pritzker might not be slim but he always looks neat and well groomed. And he doesn’t wear makeup,” wrote one person once the video hit Threads.
Illinois residents joined the backlash quickly, with one writing, “He is in no position to be calling others big fat slobs. And he best shut up about our governor. I think Illinois has shown we are not here for his bs.”
Another took aim at Trump’s own appearance, noting the irony of his past claims about being as fit as professional athletes, quipping, “Trump is astonishingly unself-aware. Has the big fat old man ever looked in a mirror?”
A fourth bluntly stated, “I’m sorry, big fat slob? He’s definitely talking about himself cuz wtf.”
Then, in what appeared to be an attempt at humor or being extra mean to the state’s executive, Trump made another comment about his size.
Also during his speech, he said, “I had a little bit of a Pritzker joke. I was gonna talk about Pritzker and size.”
Adding, “But when I talk about Pritzker I get angry because he’s not letting us do the job. So I’m not gonna tell my Pritzker joke. You know, some speechwriter wrote a joke about his weight, but I would never want to talk about his weight. I don’t talk about people being fat I refuse to talk about the fact he’s a fat slob.”
The deliberate contradiction — saying he wouldn’t mention something while actively mentioning it — only drew more attention to the very insult he claimed to avoid.
Dozens posted “Quiet piggy” and “Shut up piggy,” mocking Trump’s insult at a female reporter during a press conference last week.
One comment captured the sentiment bluntly: “Trump has a reversed body dismorphia. He sees himself in a mirror and thinks that he’s thin and fit and outrageously gorgeous.”
Just days earlier, the president had taken another shot at someone’s appearance. While aboard Air Force One on Nov. 14, he snapped at a Bloomberg News correspondent with the curt phrase “Quiet, piggy.”
@dailymail Donald Trump told a female reporter to be ‘quiet, piggy’ for asking about the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. A White House official defended the President’s insult and said: ‘This reporter behaved in an inappropriate and unprofessional way towards her colleagues on the plane. If you’re going to give it, you have to be able to take.’ Find out more at DailyMail #news #world #usa #trump ♬ original sound – Daily Mail
When reporters pressed the White House on whether such a remark was appropriate coming from the president, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, 28, mounted a full defense. On Nov. 20, she told reporters he is “frank and honest with everyone in this room,” calling Trump’s tone “one of the many reasons the American people reelected this president, because of his frankness.”
For many viewers, the disconnect between Trump’s apparent perception of himself and the person they saw on camera became the real punchline of the entire incident.
Despite the White House’s straight-faced claims, many people say they trust their eyes more than the official numbers. The president’s physician, Navy Capt. Sean P. Barbabella, clocked the president in at 6 feet 3 inches and 224 pounds — numbers that set off immediate side-eye considering his first-term listing of 75 inches and 239 pounds.
Most of Trump’s lies are abhorrent but I’d forgotten how funny the “annual physical” ones were. Yeah man, 6’3”, 224lbs. About the same stats as DK Metcalf here. Got it. pic.twitter.com/SrubafDu0c
— Clue Heywood (@ClueHeywood) April 13, 2025
Social media investigators began lining up photos of Trump next to professional athletes with similar stats, including 6-foot-4, 229-pound Steelers powerhouse DK Metcalf. The side-by-sides only made the jokes louder, as users quipped that the math was off, the muscle was missing, and somebody needed to triple check the scale and the ruler.
From calling a governor a “big, fat slob” to barking “piggy” at a reporter, Trump continues to fuel online controversies about people’s weight. As many on Threads have suggested, the biggest issue might not be the insults themselves but instead the president’s striking lack of self-awareness.
