Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) was one of the loudest – and only – critics of former President Donald Trump among Republicans in Congress. Now, after recently voting for the impeachment of the former president for the second time, Kinzinger is launching a political action committee to support anti-Trump Republicans and expunge the Republican Party from Trump’s influence.
“What the Republican Party needs to be [is] the optimistic party of the future, ”said Kinzinger in announcing the initiative, dubbed Country 1st, on Sunday Meet the press. “And we need to stop being the part that even an iota defends an insurrection, a dead policeman and other Americans killed on Capitol Hill. There is no equivalence for this. And we have to get away from it as soon as possible. “
While few Republican leaders are openly defending the violent uprising that followed a Trump rally in Washington, DC, on January 6, few were critical of the rhetoric that led to it, including Trump’s efforts to overturn the election results. Only 10 Republicans in the House voted to impeach Trump for his role in inciting insurrection – and 147 Republican lawmakers, including 138 in the House, refused to certify President Joe Biden’s electoral victory.
And Trump remains the influential leader of the Republican Party. The former president remains extremely popular with Republican voters and looks set to weigh in the next election – through endorsements, but also financially. As the New York Times reported, Trump’s PAC has raised $ 31 million since November, with additional money raised in conjunction with the Republican Party, giving him a post-presidential total of $ 70 million to spend as he sees fit.
Kinzinger argued on Sunday that this influence even led Republican Party lawmakers who oppose Trump prioritizing their short-term electoral perspectives over the principles of conservatism.
“I was disappointed in the past few weeks to see what seemed to be the Republican Party waking up and kind of falling asleep again and saying, ‘Well, you know, what matters is whether we can win in two years and I don’t want to eliminate the base,'” he said. Kinzinger in Meet the press.
The Kinzinger PAC aims to contain that influence and give Republicans an alternative to turn to Trump. But it is not yet known how successful the PAC will be in fundraising and how many candidates it will successfully support.
Kinzinger was one of only 10 House Republicans to vote for impeachment, and his anti-Trump position is lonely within the Republican caucus and beyond. Family members wrote to him to denounce him, and one even went so far as to say that he is possessed by demons. The Illinois GOP is upset with him. And he is likely to face the main challenge of the right in 2022.
The GOP is staying true to Trump
Kinzinger seems to be betting on opposition to Trump being greater than it has appeared in recent weeks. House minority leader Kevin McCarthy met Trump a few weeks after the insurrection. In both the House and the Senate, members signaled that they are still after the former president.
Also at the state level, Trump continues to have strong support. State parties blamed members for speaking out against him. In a telltale sign of where things are, Kinzinger should appear in Meet the press as part of a group of Republicans who faced Trump, according to host Chuck Todd; instead, he appeared alone.
Kinzinger took office with a class of Republican Party members who pursued obstructionism and raised cultural wars above all else. And as Zack Beauchamp of Vox explored in a question and answer session with historian Rick Perlstein, this governance style directly set the stage for Trump and the marginal figures who came in his wake, including QAnon representative Marjorie Taylor Greene.
With House Republicans more willing to take action against Congresswoman Liz Cheney (R-WY) for voting for impeachment than Greene for her promotion of QAnon, denial of school shooting and a series of anti-Semitic and racist theories, Kinzinger seems to be in a minority position, for now. He did not rule out running for state office in 2022, although he denies that his anti-Trump vocal positions are for campaign purposes.
However, if he loses his place to a main challenger, the PAC could provide Kinzinger with an exit strategy to continue his intra-party battle – even if he is the only one to do so.