Illinois Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger said on Friday that he is willing to “give up his career” by fighting the “brainwashing” of the Republican Party led by former President Donald Trump.
Kinzinger, one of 10 House Republicans who voted for Trump’s impeachment, told HBO host Bill Maher that he wants a Republican Party that is “not crazy” and can be a “productive member of a government that basically has two parties” . Although Maher joked that it hadn’t happened in decades, Kinzinger said that his party needs to stop being elected “on a constant fear diet”. Kinzinger said that Republican Party candidates in the United States have stepped up threats of “socialism” and absurd allegations of impending liberal attacks in order to raise funds and surpass their primary Republican rivals. He described the US Capitol rioters on January 6 as a force of “pure evil” and a sinister sign of the Republican Party’s future.
“We learned, and I can only speak like a Republican looking at Republicans, we learn that you can be elected on a constant fear diet,” said Kinzinger in Real Time with Bill Maher Friday night. “So, every fundraising email is ‘send me $ 5 to make sure Nancy Pelosi doesn’t destroy your family’. And everything is this fear diet. And, eventually, it is no wonder that there is real damage to democracy. “
“It’s just fear … when you think it’s your terminal job or that you’re going to rise higher, you live in fear of anything to do,” said Kinzinger, highlighting the desperate efforts of many lawmakers to stay in office at all costs .
Kinzinger said “tribal” politics across the country allowed people with “incapacity to make independent decisions now” to be elected, which helps explain why furious Trump supporters attacked him for voting for the former president’s impeachment. He said friends and family sent a “second authenticated letter reiterating” his belief that he embraced the devil and walked away from Trump, who they consider “the second coming of [Jesus Christ]. “
“The level of brainwashing among some people … they really believe that they are fighting the forces of evil just because the person they thought was the second coming [of Jesus Christ] I lost by chance, “said Kinzinger to Maher.
Kinzinger said the satanic accusations of Trump’s fanatical supporters opened his eyes to the fact that Trump was “driving these people crazy to believe that they were in some way serving this country”. He noted that his mentality as a U.S. military veteran allowed him to be “willing to give his career” to face Trump’s kidnapping of the party.
Kinzinger recently wrote an article in The Washington Post who urged Republican senators to condemn Trump in order to reinstate responsibility.
“This is not a waste of time. It is a matter of responsibility. If the Republican Party does not take a stand, the chaos of the past months and the past four years can return quickly. The future of our party and our country depends on facing the what happened – so it doesn’t happen again, “wrote Kinzinger, urging at least 17 Republicans to join Democrats in considering Trump’s condemnation.
Trump won the 16th congressional district of Kinzinger, in the western suburbs of Chicago, with 57% of the vote in the November 2020 election. Kinzinger won his general election, meaning his current term ends in January 2023. He took office for the first time in 2013.
Kinzinger praised his “Country First” political action committee, which he called an effort to return the Republican Party to conservative principles.
Newsweek contacted Kinzinger’s office for further comment on Saturday morning.
Screenshot: YouTube | Real Time with Bill Maher