A New York Times report indicates that anti-Trump Republican Adam Kinzinger (IL) has not only been censured by his own party but is being shunned by members of his own family.
Kinzinger has been on the offensive of late, urging the Republican party to cleanse itself of former President Donald Trump.
He is one of only 10 Republicans in the House to have voted in favor of impeachment earlier this year.
The Times, in a piece they title ‘Adam Kinzinger’s Lonely Mission,’ notes that the anti-Trumper received a two-page, handwritten letter from 11 members of his family.
“Oh my, what a disappointment you are to us and to God!” they wrote. “You have embarrassed the Kinzinger family name!”
Read the two-page, hand-written letter Kinzinger’s cousins sent him Jan. 8.
It begins: “Oh my, what a disappointment you are to us and to God!” https://t.co/EWD2YZO49X pic.twitter.com/RcgmRmYKjc
— Reid J. Epstein (@reidepstein) February 15, 2021
RELATED: Gaetz Challenges Anti-Trump Republican Adam Kinzinger: ‘F***ing Bring It’
Adam Kinzinger Wants to Rescue the GOP From Trump
The profile by the New York Times references Adam Kinzinger’s quest to “restore the Republican Party” following the successful four-year term of former President Trump.
Kinzinger views the party as having relied exclusively on the politics of fear.
“We just fear,” he said. “Fear the Democrats. Fear the future. Fear everything. And it works for an election cycle or two. The problem is it does real damage to this democracy.”
Kinzinger seems unaware that the Democrats’ entire platform in 2020 was running on ‘fear’ of Donald Trump. And now he is doing the same.
Ex-IL Gov Bruce Rauner, the Republican elected statewide, is not optimistic about his party or its voters.
“The only winners in the war between Trump and Republicans will be Democrats,” he said. “For some voters, character matters. For most, it doesn’t.”https://t.co/EWD2YZO49X
— Reid J. Epstein (@reidepstein) February 16, 2021
The Times notes that Kinzinger’s opposition to Trump dated all the way back to 2016 and led to a testy exchange – through a medium – between the two.
Trump reportedly spoke with Richard Porter, a Republican National Committee member from Illinois, about Kinzinger’s re-election bid.
He “poked his finger in his (Porter’s) chest and told him to deliver to Mr. Kinzinger a vulgar message about what he should do with himself,” they write.
“When Mr. Porter relayed the comment to Mr. Kinzinger during a conversation on Election Day, Mr. Kinzinger laughed and invited Mr. Trump to do the same.”
How @RepKinzinger responded to a Donald Trump threat made through an Illinois RNC member in September 2016… https://t.co/EWD2YZO49X pic.twitter.com/4YMgOEhMYv
— Reid J. Epstein (@reidepstein) February 15, 2021
RELATED: Of The 10 Republicans Who Voted To Impeach Trump, 7 Are Already Facing Primary Challenges
Kinzinger’s Shame
The La Salle County GOP, which censured Kinzinger last month, believes his anti-Trump stance has more to do with seeking attention than it has to do with advancing the party’s platforms.
“There doesn’t seem to be a camera or a microphone he won’t run to,” said county GOP Chair Larry Smith. “He used to talk to us back in the good old days.”
Now, Kinzinger has formed a new PAC which he claims is fighting to “take back” the Republican party from Trump.
Congressman Adam Kinzinger, who voted for impeachment, starts anti-Trump Republican PAC | Just The News https://t.co/I2nKPKLSKk
— John Solomon (@jsolomonReports) February 1, 2021
Adam Kinzinger, in announcing the PAC, took aim at pro-Trump Republican congressman Matt Gaetz (FL), to which the latter did not take very kindly.
“He wants to target my America First politics, referencing me by name,” Gaetz wrote on social media. “My response: F***ing bring it.”
Adam is a patriot who fought for America from Northwest Florida.
We will always appreciate & honor his service.
Now, he wants to target my America First politics, referencing me by name.
My response:
Fucking bring it.
Adam needs PACs to win elections.
I don’t. https://t.co/TE9TPt6QJv
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) February 11, 2021
Aside from being censured in Illinois, Kinzinger is one of several Republicans who voted to impeach Trump that is now facing a primary challenge.
Diante Johnson, an organizer with Black Voices for Trump last year and a field organizer with Trump’s 2016 campaign, has expressed interest in challenging Kinzinger in 2022.
“Kinzinger has said he is at peace with the possibility that he could lose re-election over his Trump stance,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
A recent poll from Axios-Ipsos shows Republican voters are siding with Trump over his intraparty opponents who supported the impeachment drive, signaling trouble for those facing primary challenges.
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