- Republican MP Adam Kinzinger launched a new PAC to work against Republicans still aligned with Trump.
- Kinzinger is one of 10 GOP members who voted for Trump’s impeachment.
- He faced a negative reaction, including his family submitting a petition to deny him.
- Visit the Business Insider home page for more stories.
Republican MP Adam Kinzinger launched a new political action committee to oppose Republicans who embrace former President Donald Trump.
“The Republican Party has lost its way. If we want to lead again, we need to gather the courage to remember who we are,” said Kinzinger in a video posted on the new Country First PAC website.
The PAC plans to put money on candidates who oppose Trump’s influence over the party.
“We need to remember what we believe and why we believe it,” said Kinzinger. “Looking in the mirror can be difficult, but the time has come to choose what kind of party we will be and what kind of future we will strive to achieve.”
On January 6, Trump supporters violated the United States Capitol and clashed with law enforcement, interrupting a joint session of Congress while lawmakers certified President Joe Biden’s electoral victory. The attack left five dead.
Trump was criticized for encouraging the crowd and the House has since accused him of inciting an insurrection. The Senate will hold a trial and vote on the former president’s sentencing in the week of February 8.
Kinzinger was one of 10 Republicans who voted for Trump’s impeachment. He told Anthony Fisher of Insider that his family had sent a petition for him to be rejected.
Read More: Meet the powers of the corporate lobby that financed Joe Biden’s star-studded fireworks display
The Illinois congressman also told Fisher that he thought Trump should be impeached because: “We need to establish red lines. An attack on one branch of the government by another branch is a red line. We cannot say that you are immune from any type of impeachment. if you are within a certain amount of time leaving your job. This is a terrible precedent. “
Kinzinger criticized the visit of House minority leader Kevin McCarthy to Trump’s Florida home on Thursday, and said the Republican Party is not a “first Trump party”.
“The former president is desperate to continue to appear to be leading the party. And the problem is until we step back and say, you know, this is not a party of the first Trump, it is a party of the first country,” said Kinzinger to Chuck Todd in an interview at Meet the press on Sunday.
“In some cases, you can support Donald Trump in this effort. But in my case, I believe this is a whole new movement,” said Kinzinger. “Until we all kind of get up and say that, let’s kind of chase our tail here in this situation.”