“This is no longer their Republican Party!” Donald Trump Jr. declared on January 6 during a fiery speech near the United States Capitol.
“This is Donald Trump’s Republican Party,” insisted the president’s son. “Today, Republicans, you can choose a side for the future of this party. I suggest that you choose wisely. “
And then, at the end of the day, everything came crashing down. A large number of angry assholes have invaded the United States Capitol in an attempt to prevent a legitimate presidential election from being certified. Five people died in the resulting confusion, including a member of the United States Capitol police force.
Republican Mary Miller, a Illinois US rookie, was at a rally the day before and made a bizarre comment about how Adolf Hitler was right about children being the future.
Both Miller and US Representative Mike Bost (R-12) represent Southern Illinois, and after Congress met again that night, they voted against certifying the results of the presidential election.
Bost and US Representative Darin LaHood (R-18) signed last month an unsuccessful attempt to convince the US Supreme Court to overturn the election results.
Although US Representative Rodney Davis (R-13) has not gone as far as his three Republican colleagues, he has been a strong supporter of President Trump for the past four years.
These are not the faces of the public that parties need in the suburbs of Chicago. And you just can’t win across the state in Illinois without moving on to that region.
US Representative Adam Kinzinger (R-16), on the other hand, gained national fame by criticizing the president from time to time, but intensely, and has stepped up his game since it became clear that Trump lost the election. He took it to a much higher level on the day of the uprising, however.
“I openly condemn that garbage,” said Kinzinger of Mr Miller ‘s speech. He called the Capitol invasion an “attempted coup”. He criticized other Republicans for refusing to certify the results. And he said that the president is a “weak and self-centered man” who was trying to “overthrow the will of the people”.
“He is no longer the leader of our party,” said Kinzinger of Trump. “And our party must reject these acts of treason.”
At the time when then Congressman Ray LaHood (Darin’s father) was thinking about running against Governor Rod Blagojevich, I wrote that “moderate” Republicans from Washington, DC generally have voting records that don’t seem at all moderate when they run across the board. the state here. Kinzinger voted with Trump 92% of the time and definitely has a conservative track record.
But, man, these statements can erase much of what can be played against him if he decides to run for governor or U.S. Senate, especially in a state where Trump lost twice by 17 points.
One should never make predictions during times of great upheaval and change, so we will not anoint you yet. In addition, we have all seen politicians rise like rockets only to fall like meteors. And I have seen many solid candidates and workers fail simply because they lived in the “wrong” district or state.
With that said, Kinzinger has a sharp intelligence and obviously knows how to land a strong punch.
Kinzinger won a seat on the McLean County Council when he was just 20 years old and then joined the Air Force after college and went on missions to Iraq and Afghanistan. He won his first run for Congress against an incumbent Democrat and then defeated a former Republican candidate in a post-remap primary. The guy has serious talent.
I was impressed with the way he rhetorically toppled Governor JB Pritzker last month because of the LaSalle Veterans’ Home disaster, where 35 residents died of COVID-19. Then again, Kinzinger was not exactly the first to alert his constituents to take precautions during the pandemic. The virus was spreading to the surrounding community when it found its way into the facility.
The money to finance the Republican Party is in the Chicago area, where many corporate types tend to shy away from far-right views. These people will definitely not want to live in the Donald Trump Republican Party going forward, no matter what the president’s son says. Therefore, they may be eager to embrace someone like Kinzinger.
But Kinzinger has gone so far in limbo at Trump (even calling for his dismissal) that he may have seriously undermined his chances of winning a statewide primary. And even if he wins that round, a significant part of his party’s base may choose to furiously skip him in a general election.
Keep watching.