Illinois Governor says spikes in COVID-19 infections are from 'president's allies' telling people in his state not to follow the rules

• Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker on Sunday criticized President Trump's "allies" for encouraging people to not "follow the rules" in place in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
• In an interview with CNN's "State of The Union," Pritzker said the coronavirus cases for Illinois are headed in "the wrong direction" because federal leadership is "modeling" dangerous behavior.
• On Thursday, the Illinois Department of Public Health recorded 4,015 new coronavirus cases, the highest one-day new case total for the state.

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker criticized President Donald Trump's "allies" in the state for encouraging people to disobey the rules in place in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

In an interview with CNN's "State of The Union," on Sunday Pritzker said coronavirus cases for Illinois is going in the "wrong direction," referring to the recent surge in new cases. On Thursday, the Illinois Department of Public Health recorded 4,015 new coronavirus cases, the highest one-day increase case total for the state.

"That's because people are not following the mitigations, because the modeling is so bad at the leadership level, the federal level," Pritzker told CNN's Jake Tapper. "We are trying to get the word out, we are trying to continue to convince people to do the right thing but it's the president's allies in our state, all across the state, who are simply saying to people 'don't pay any attention to the mitigations,' 'don't follow the rules.'"

Pritzker said Trump is "modeling bad behavior," sending a misleading message to supporters that "well the president doesn't wear a mask, we don't need to wear a mask, it's not that dangerous."

"He doesn't wear a mask in public, he has rallies where they don't encourage people to wear masks in public," he said.

The US has recently entered a third major wave of coronavirus which public health experts said could be the largest and deadliest to date, according to Business Insider's Aria Bendix. According to John Hopkins University, the US surpassed a total of 8 million cases and 200,000 deaths. The state of Illinois has over 300,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus cases to date, according to Johns Hopkins.

Meanwhile, less than two days after he announced he tested positive for coronavirus, Trump held a campaign rally in Florida where supporters were spotted packed together without masks. He also held a rally in Michigan on Saturday.

"The reality is that this virus hasn't gone away, we do need to continue to keep ourselves safe from it," Pritzker said. He also urged state residents to take caution in the upcoming Thanksgiving holidays.

"If you can gather virtually, I urge you please do that. To the extent you decide you want to get together with certain relatives or your friends, please keep distance, wear a mask," he said.

—State of the Union (@CNNSotu) October 18, 2020

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  • The US has entered its 3rd — and possibly largest — wave of coronavirus cases. Experts say states should 'pull back.'
  • Trump laughs at 'lock her up' chants about Gretchen Whitmer at Michigan rally, just days after the FBI said it foiled a right-wing militia plot to kidnap her
  • Lara Trump says the president 'was having fun' at a rally where supporters chanted 'lock her up' towards Michigan governor