Patriot Games proposal draws ‘Hunger Games' comparisons, including from Pritzker

President Trump’s plans for a competition called “Patriot Games” drew many comparisons to the fictional series “The Hunger Games” after it was announced Thursday, including from Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker.

The “Patriot Games” will be a four-day competition in the fall, featuring “one young man and one young woman from each state and territory,” Trump said while outlining his plans for the 250th anniversary celebration of the country next year.

Shortly after the games were announced, many flocked to social media to compare them to the popular dystopian series “The Hunger Games” — including Pritzker.

“The Hunger Games” centers on a fictional North American country called Panem that consists of a very wealthy area called the Capitol and 12 districts with people living in varying levels of poverty. Each year, a boy and girl are selected from each district to participate in a competition called “The Hunger Games.” They fight to the death in the televised competition for the promise of a mansion, a lifelong salary and abundant food.

Pritzker shared a still from the series that shows Panem President Coriolanus Snow raising a glass in response to a post on X about the “Patriot Games,” seemingly comparing the fictional President Snow to President Trump.

Snow is the main antagonist of the series, widely considered a tyrannical dictator and known for coming up with many of the key, brutal elements of the Games as they were being devised.

Pritzker wasn’t the only Illinois leader to call out the comparison.

Illinois Congresswoman Delia C. Ramirez said “A competition between teenagers created by authoritarians to distract the people from their brutality and corruption? What could possibly go wrong? If only there were a book that told us exactly what happens next,” in a post on X.

Many others drew similar comparisons to “The Hunger Games” on social media after Trump’s announcement.

In a post on “The Hunger Games: Official Fan Group” page on Facebook, one member said “I definitely did not have “recreation of the Hunger Games in real life,” on my BINGO card for this or for next year.”

The official X account for the Democratic Party shared a clip and a quote from the movie in direct response to a post about the “Patriot Games.”

The White House did not immediately respond to NBC Chicago’s request for comment.

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