President Trump’s Former Defense Secretary Blames Him For Capitol Riot

Posted on March 12, 2021 by John Hanson

On Thursday, former acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller accused his former boss, President Donald Trump, of helping cause the January 6 riot at the Capitol with his speech earlier that day.

Miller’s remarks came during an interview on VICE on Showtime about one month after Trump was acquitted by the Senate on an incitement charge.

Watch the interview below.

Trump’s Defense Secretary Blames Him For Violence

VICE News’ Seb Walker asked Miller, “Did you listen to the president’s speech in the morning? What did you make of it what you heard the kinds of things he was saying?”

Miller replied, “Concerning.”

Walker continued his line of questioning, “When you heard him say, ‘We’re gonna walk down Pennsylvania Avenue,’ ‘take our country back,’ that is what was concerning to you?”

Miller responded, “Sure, yeah. But by the same token, there had been a lot of rhetoric spewed over the previous bunch of years.”

Read: Former President Donald Trump's January 6 speech https://t.co/oem0Pi4eVY pic.twitter.com/RLTwmyFvyc

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) February 9, 2021

Walker continued, not letting up.

“But on this day, more than any other, when the vote is being certified in Congress, that must of set alarms bells off ringing in your head,” Walker queried.

Miller said, “Yes.”

Then Walker asked his question, point blank.

“Do you think the president was responsible for what happened on the 6th?” Walked pressed.

Miller said he did not think the violence would have unfolded if not for the president’s speech.

“I don’t know, but it seems cause and effect,” Miller said. “Yeah.”

NEW: Trump's acting defense secretary Christopher Miller told VICE, that rioters WOULDN'T have attacked the Capitol without Trump's speech.https://t.co/hGHbU9SKyX

— Bill Maxwell (@Bill_Maxwell_) March 11, 2021

Miller: Violence Wouldn’t Have Happened Without Trump’s Speech

Miller added, “Would anybody have marched on the Capitol, and overrun the Capitol, without the president’s speech? I think it’s pretty much definitive that wouldn’t have happened.”

As to whether or not he believes Trump was actually encouraging the crowd that day to riot, Miller said, “So yes, the question is, did he know he was enraging the crowd to do that? I don’t know.”

Many have speculated that the president telling the crowd to march down streets and be “strong” contributed to what unfolded.

However, Trump explicitly told the crowd that day to “peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”

Former President Trump was acquitted of the charge “incitement of insurrection” in relation to the January 6 riot at the United States Capitol on February 13.

Watch the interview with Miller here:

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Hillary Clinton: Republicans Don’t ‘Pledge Allegiance’ To USA, They Pledge To Trump ‘Cult’

Posted on March 9, 2021 by John Hanson

On Monday, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said the GOP has become a cult of former President Donald Trump that doesn’t pledge allegiance to America.

The former Secretary of State made her comments during an interview on “Washington Post Live” with host Jonathan Capehart.

Hillary Clinton: “It is really troubling to see the Republican Party turn themselves into a cult” and “pledge allegiance” to Trump. pic.twitter.com/uzyg1rkkxm

— The Recount (@therecount) March 8, 2021

Clinton Praises Republican Liz Cheney For Impeachment Vote

Capehart said to Clinton, “The Republicans have been eating their own. I wonder what advice, if any, you would give to Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming in handling, not just Donald Trump and the criticisms coming from him but his followers in Congress?”

Clinton replied, “Well first, I will say I don’t want to hurt Liz Cheney, but I was incredibly impressed by her strength in standing up to what had been instigated by Donald Trump, an attack on our Capitol by the then-sitting president of our country, which was so outrageous.”

HRC says she “… doesn’t want to hurt Liz Cheney” , but she was impressed by her regarding her vote for the impeachment.

— #FeminismIsTheRealRevolution (@GabbieKDrice) March 8, 2021

Clinton continued to praise Cheney.

“Really, Representative Cheney was one of the very few Republicans in Congress who did stand up,” Clinton continued. “And I give all of them who spoke up, who voted for impeachment, who voted for conviction in the Senate credit for doing what was right.”

The former first lady condemned Republicans who did not join Cheney in voting to impeach Trump.

Clinton said, “I just wish that more Republicans had had either the courage or the understanding of what they needed to do, that they too had stood up and spoken out.”

Republican voters are not in agreement. GOP Congressmen who voted to impeach or convict President Trump have been censured at home, and many are already facing primary challengers.

Clinton Claims Republicans Turning Into ‘Cult’

Then she questioned whether Republicans were loyal to America or Donald Trump.

“Right now, Jonathan, it is really troubling to see the Republican Party turn themselves into a cult and, you know, basically pledge allegiance not to the United States of America but to Donald Trump,” Clinton charged.

The insult is constructed in a curious way, given that Trump’s supporters describe their support as ‘America First,’ and often charge that politicians like Hillary Clinton have put America last.

Hillary Clinton: "It is really troubling to see the Republican Party turn themselves into a cult and basically pledge allegiance, not to the United States of America, but to Donald Trump." pic.twitter.com/NtHLmminsH

— The Hill (@thehill) March 8, 2021

Clinton then gave the GOP an additional wag of the finger.

“Something I do not understand, I cannot accept, and I don’t think the majority of Americans — as we have seen with the very large popular victory of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, the passage of the American Rescue Plan, which is so popular — I don’t understand why the Republican Party is so afraid of itself, because that’s what it comes down to,” she finished.

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Kinzinger Rips Trump For CPAC Speech – Says Former President ‘Just Needed His Monthly Dose Of Adoration’

Posted on March 3, 2021 by LifeZette

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) went on CNN on Tuesday to blast Donald Trump for the CPAC speech he gave this past weekend, claiming that he was “really bored” during it because it was like many of the others the former president had previously given.

Kinzinger Attacks Trump

“I think that that was the first time we had heard Donald Trump speak,” Kinzinger stated. “It would be shocking, you know, all that stuff … but it was the same exact — I mean … he could have given that speech in September, and with the exception of having talked about impeachment, it would have been the same speech he gave this time. He had no new ideas.”

“I mean, to me, it looked like somebody that just needed his monthly dose of adoration in front of a crowd. So, I really was bored,” he added.

“Honestly, I watched it because I knew he was going to call my name out, and I wanted to be able to know how to respond and what was said,” Kinzinger said.

“But it was a hard speech to get through because I was just like, you know, looking at my phone a lot, as you can tell by the number of the tweets I had,” he concluded.

Trump Called Out Kinzinger In His Speech

Kinzinger was one of the Republicans who Trump attacked by name in his speech, with Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) being mentioned as well. Kinzinger has been trying to fire back at Trump ever since, appearing on “Morning Joe” on Monday to respond as well.

“I think, you know, what you could see at that speech yesterday was recycling old talking points,” Kinzinger said, according to The Hill.

“You know, just stream of consciousness and I think it’s obvious there is no vision from Donald Trump there’s no desire to paint a vision,” he said. “All he really desires is to stand in front of a crowd and be adored and he got that in ample amounts yesterday.”

“This president has done nothing but reflect people’s darkness back to them, reflect their fears back to them,” Kinzinger added.

“It was sad, but I’m still hopeful that, you know, 45 percent of people at this Trump rally didn’t want Donald Trump again, and I think there’s a growing number of people out there that see he’s a has-been,” he concluded.

This piece was written by James Samson on March 3, 2021. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

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Jim Jordan Defies Left To Say ‘I Hope On January 20, 2025’ Trump Is The President Again

Posted on March 2, 2021 by LifeZette

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) went on Fox News on Monday to fully endorse former President Donald Trump, should he decide to run again in 2024.

Jordan Endorses Potential Trump Run In 2024

“[H]e’s the leader of the conservative movement,” Jordan said of Trump. “He’s the leader of the America first movement, and he is the leader of the Republican Party.”

“And I hope, and you know, I hope — like I said yesterday, I hope on January 20, 2025 he’s, once again, will be the leader of our country,” he added. “I hope he runs, but he’s definitely the leader of our party.”

“We need to stay together, and the vast, vast, vast majority of our party supports President Trump as our leader,” Jordan said.

Jordan Thinks Trump Would Have Won Re-Election Under Normal Circumstances

Jordan went on to say that he believes Trump would have won re-election, had things been done as they normally are.

“I mean, look, the left knew that under existing rules, they couldn’t beat President Trump,” he explained.

“So in the run-up to the election, they had to change the law but they couldn’t because they — and they couldn’t do it in a constitutional fashion because in the key swing states, they didn’t control the legislature,” Jordan continued. “So they had to go around it with Democrat partisan secretary of states, with local Democrat partisan judges.”

“In some cases, you had the partisan supreme — state supreme courts in these states just change the law, go around the state legislature unconstitutionally, and that was the point we made when we objected on January 6,” Jordan added.

“That’s the point the president was making yesterday,” he said. “These state legislatures are going to have to get control of their election law and put in place the changes that President Trump talked about in his speech yesterday.”

Jordan Says Democrats Are ‘Scared’ Of Trump

This comes a month after Jordan ripped Democrats for their second impeachment effort, saying that they are “scared” of Trump.

“Democrats are going to these lengths because they are obsessed with canceling President Trump,” Jordan continued. “They’re scared of him.”

“They know he works [for] the American people, and not the Washington Swamp,” he added. “Unlike most politicians, President Trump did what he said he’d do. Hopefully, one day, he’ll get to do it again.”

Full Story: Jim Jordan Claims Democrats Are ‘Scared’ Of Trump

This piece was written by James Samson on March 2, 2021. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

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Trump Lashes Out At Supreme Court For Allowing New York ‘Witch Hunt’ To Continue

Posted on February 23, 2021 by LifeZette

Former President Donald Trump spoke out on Monday to respond publicly after the the Supreme Court rejected his bid to prevent New York prosecutors from obtaining his financial records.

Trump Lashes Out At Supreme Court

“The Supreme Court never should have let this ‘fishing expedition’ happen, but they did,” Trump wrote in a lengthy statement that was released to the press.

This came after the Supreme Court voted to reject Trump’s application to stay a lower court’s order, which allows prosecutors to subpoena his tax, financial, and bank records. This did not sit well with Trump, who blasted the effort of Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. as “a continuation of the greatest political Witch Hunt in the history of our Country.”

“The Tea Party was treated far better by the IRS than Donald Trump,” Trump said, according to The Hill. “This is something which has never happened to a President before.”

Trump Doubles Down

Not stopping there, the former president also ripped the investigation as a partisan effort by Democrat New York officials, including Gov. Andrew Cuomo, to punish him for winning the presidency.

“The new phenomenon of ‘headhunting’ prosecutors and AGs — who try to take down their political opponents using the law as a weapon — is a threat to the very foundation of our liberty,” Trump wrote.

Trump then warned that the ongoing probe imitated those of third world countries trying to punish their political rivals.

“That’s fascism, not justice — and that is exactly what they are trying to do with respect to me, except that the people of our Country won’t stand for it,” he wrote.

Despite his strong feelings on this, Trump made it clear that he has no intention of giving up.

“I will fight on, just as I have, for the last five years (even before I was successfully elected), despite all of the election crimes that were committed against me,” Trump said. “We will win!”

This comes as Trump is preparing to give a speech at CPAC this coming weekend. It remains to be seen if he will touch on the Supreme Court scandal.

This piece was written by James Samson on February 23, 2021. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

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Newt Gingrich Warns Trump Will Keep Dominating Republican Party – ‘Nobody Can Fight Him’

Posted on February 22, 2021 by LifeZette

In a new interview, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich discussed what he believes to be the future of the Republican Party following former President Donald Trump’s departure from the White House.

Gingrich Discusses Trump And GOP

Gingrich said that Trump’s “reach” in the party is still “enormous,” and that nobody in the GOP, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), “can fight him.”

“[W]hat’s very striking is that President Trump still has such enormous reach in the party that nobody can fight him,” Gingrich said on New York City AM 970 radio’s “The Cats Roundtable.” “I mean, you can complain about him.”

“You can criticize him,” he added. “But McConnell can’t possibly fight Trump. He doesn’t have a big enough base. And it’s also a reminder that there is sort of an establishment insider party that sits around at cocktail parties in Washington.”

“And then there’s this huge country outside of Washington,” Gingrich continued. “And that country in 2015, by about two to one, did not like the Republican leadership in the Congress, and that was the forerunner of us ending up with Trump as the presidential nominee.”

“I think … [Kevin] McCarthy has been much smarter as the House Republican leader to recognize his ability to get the extra seats rests almost entirely on working with Trump — not picking a fight with him,” he added.

Gingrich ‘Will Not Accept Joe Biden As President’

Ever since the election, Gingrich has not hidden the fact that he believes it was likely stolen from President Donald Trump.

He recently penned an op-ed called “Why I will not accept Joe Biden as president,” which was published in The Washington Times. In this op-ed, he explained that he can’t accept the results of this election because of an anger he has never felt before.

“As I thought about it, I realized my anger and fear were not narrowly focused on votes,” Gingrich wrote. “My unwillingness to relax and accept that the election was over grew out of a level of outrage and alienation unlike anything I had experienced in more than 60 years involvement in public affairs.”

He went on to complain about the fact that those on the left and the right now “live in alternative worlds.”

“You have more than 74 million voters who supported President Trump despite everything — and given the election mess, the number could easily be significantly higher. The truth is tens of millions of Americans are deeply alienated and angry,” Gingrich wrote.

“If Mr. Biden governs from the left — and he will almost certainly be forced to — that number will grow rapidly, and we will win a massive election in 2022,” he added.

This piece was written by James Samson on February 22, 2021. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

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Report: Trump Set To Deliver Speech Claiming ‘I’m Still In Charge’ Of GOP

Posted on February 22, 2021 by Rusty Weiss

Donald Trump will reportedly deliver a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Florida this weekend in which he will claim the mantle of power in the GOP by saying he is “still in charge.”

A longtime adviser to the former President tells Axios that the speech will be a “show of force” in which he will announce, “I may not have Twitter or the Oval Office, but I’m still in charge.”

Going a step further, Trump is expected to argue that he is still the man to drain the Washington swamp as the Republican “presumptive 2024 nominee.”

Trump will be making his speech on Sunday, the final day of the conference.

During the week, Axios adds, “advisers will meet with him at Mar-a-Lago” where they will “plan his next political moves” and “set up the machinery for kingmaking in the 2022 midterms.”

Scoop: Trump to claim total control of GOP / plans years-long payback campaign…https://t.co/eh7rO1h3OF

— Jim VandeHei (@JimVandeHei) February 22, 2021

Is Trump In Charge of the Republican Party?

Donald Trump certainly seems to have the numbers to back up his claims of being in charge of the Republican party.

A poll released this past weekend indicates nearly 50 percent of Trump voters would follow the former President to a new party and abandon the GOP altogether.

A vast majority of GOP voters want to see him play a big role in the future of the party, including running again in 2024.

Trump is strategically leaving that option open to give him leverage within the party and with voters.

PARTY OF TRUMP
– Trump’s looking to assert himself as top 2024 contender via CPAC speech, sources tell @mikeallen
– His leadership PAC has $75 million on hand & database of tens of millions of names
– Even if he doesn’t run, these stunts give him powerhttps://t.co/HcnsTXEYBj

— Sara Fischer (@sarafischer) February 22, 2021

“Trump effectively is the Republican Party,” Trump senior adviser Jason Miller told Axios. “The only chasm is between Beltway insiders and grassroots Republicans around the country.”

He added, “When you attack President Trump, you’re attacking the Republican grassroots.”

A longtime adviser called Trump’s speech a “show of force,” and said the message will be: “I may not have Twitter or the Oval Office, but I’m still in charge.” Payback is his chief obsession. https://t.co/ohQpzSBabd

— Axios (@axios) February 22, 2021

Who Is In Charge of the GOP?

Miller’s point is one of the more important ones that establishment Republicans don’t seem to understand.

When they attack Trump, they don’t just do so as a matter of principle. They do so with disdain and a personal vendetta which reflects poorly to and upon his supporters.

As an example, a group led by former independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin announced recently that they are considering forming their own political party.

In his statement regarding the anti-Trump party, McMullin portrayed supporters of the former President as extremists who are a threat to the country.

“Large portions of the Republican Party are radicalizing and threatening American democracy,” McMullin told Reuters. “The party needs to recommit to truth, reason and founding ideals or there clearly needs to be something new.”

The biggest threat to American democracy has been, and always will be, the Democrat party – McMullin and the anti-Trumpers good friends.

The Zoom was co-hosted by @EvanMcMullin, who ran as an independent in the 2016 presidential election. Participants included Trump Homeland Security officials @JohnMitnick and @NeuSummits, and former congressman @RepCharlieDent https://t.co/8pQBUlXMBw 3/6 pic.twitter.com/geSHnkKHMO

— Reuters (@Reuters) February 11, 2021

Axios notes that Trump stands ready to support candidates who share his vision for America in the 2022 midterms and has the backing of state-level officials, many of whom censured Republicans who voted in lockstep with Democrats on impeachment.

The former president’s speech will claim “many of his predictions about President Biden have already come true” and that “much like 2016, we’re taking on Washington again.”

That includes everybody in Washington on both sides of the political aisle.

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Kamala Harris Refuses To Give Direct Answer After Being Asked If Trump Should Face Criminal Charges

Posted on February 18, 2021 by LifeZette

Vice President Kamala Harris declined to give a direct answer on Wednesday morning when she was asked if former President Donald Trump should face criminal charges for his alleged role in the Capitol riots last month.

Kamala Harris Interviewed On ‘Today’

“The president was acquitted in the Senate trial,” said “Today” host Savannah Guthrie. “Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, though, had some harsh words, saying he didn’t get away with anything yet, and that civil and criminal liability was still a possibility. I ask you — do you think that President Trump should be criminally charged?”

“You know, right now, Savannah, I’m focused on what we need to do to get relief to American families, and that is my highest priority,” Harris replied. “It is our administration’s highest priority. It is our job. It is the job we were elected to do, and that’s my focus.”

“But you’re a former prosecutor, so I have got to ask you, is that a strong case against the president, a criminal case that Mitch McConnell had raised as a possibility?” Guthrie pressed on.

“I haven’t reviewed the case through the lens of being a prosecutor,” Harris responded, dodging the question again. “I’m reviewing the case of COVID in America through the lens of being the vice president of America.”

Harris’ Past Comments Come Back To Haunt Her

Harris found herself in some hot water during Trump’s impeachment trial when past comments that she had made came back to haunt her, as Republicans claimed that she had incited violence in the past as well by encouraging racial riots and bailing out protests.

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) went so far as to say that if Republicans take back the House, Harris could find herself being impeached, based on the precedent Democrats set with their latest effort against Trump.

“If you use this model, I don’t know how Kamala Harris doesn’t get impeached if the Republicans take over the House, because she actually bailed out rioters and one of the rioters went back to the streets and broke somebody’s head open,” Graham said, according to Newsweek. “So we’ve opened Pandora’s Box here, and I’m sad for the country.”

This piece was written by James Samson on February 17, 2021. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

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Dem Congressman Files Lawsuit Against Trump For His Alleged Role In Capitol Riot

Posted on February 16, 2021 by Rusty Weiss

Representative Bennie Thompson, the Democratic chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, filed a federal lawsuit against former President Donald Trump for his alleged role in inciting a riot at the Capitol on January 6th.

The Mississippi lawmaker claims Trump conspired with attorney Rudy Giuliani and extremist groups to stop Congress from certifying President Biden’s Electoral College win, which in turn led to violence.

The suit accuses Trump of violating the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act which was passed in an effort to address the KKK and prohibits violence or intimidation meant to prevent members of Congress or other federal officials from carrying out their constitutional duties.

“January 6th was one of the most shameful days in our country’s history, and it was instigated by the president himself,” Thompson said in a statement.

“His gleeful support of violent white supremacists led to a breach of the Capitol that put my life, and that of my colleagues, in grave danger. It is by the slimmest of luck that the outcome was not deadlier.”

New: Rep. Bennie Thompson filed a lawsuit in federal court today against Trump, Giuliani, the Proud Boys, and the Oath Keepers alleging they conspired to interfere with Congress’s certification of the election, in violation of the Ku Klux Klan Act https://t.co/suhMsNVyii pic.twitter.com/BIuEAMB0PH

— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) February 16, 2021

Trump Adviser Denies Allegations in Capitol Riot Lawsuit

The Associated Press reports that Thompson’s lawsuit is the first “of an expected wave of litigation over the Jan. 6 riot.”

A clear indication that, while Donald Trump is no longer in office, the Democrat party has no intention of working to make the lives of the American people better, and will continue to instead focus on the former President.

Jason Miller, a Trump adviser, dismissed the allegations being made in the lawsuit, pointing out that Trump had no role in organizing the rally.

He “did not incite or conspire to incite any violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6th,” Miller succinctly explained.

“President Trump has been acquitted in the Democrats’ latest impeachment witch hunt, and the facts are irrefutable,” Miller added.

“We have a criminal justice system in this country. We have civil litigation,” McConnell said.

Inspiring Rep. Bennie Thompson to go and have his day in court. https://t.co/HI3phW2uoS

— Annie Karni (@anniekarni) February 16, 2021

No Basis in Reality

Rep. Bennie Thompson’s lawsuit against Trump regarding the Capitol riot has little basis in reality, as there has been absolutely no proof that the rally and march in early January were inspired or motivated by white supremacy.

The problem is that Democrats link all Trump supporters to white supremacy and thus, in their minds, it must have been the motivating factor.

It simply couldn’t have had anything to do with opposing the electoral votes.

This, incidentally, is something Democrats have done over and over again both in 2017 and 2005.

Where were the lawsuits then against Democrats? Weren’t they, by this standard, clearly trying to prevent members of Congress from carrying out their constitutional duties and disenfranchising black supporters of Donald Trump and George W. Bush?

Lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin objected to Florida’s electoral votes in 2017. pic.twitter.com/FsLvJLvA8v

— Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) January 13, 2021

Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is doing her part to continue harassing Trump, announcing she plans to create an “outside, independent 9/11-type Commission” to investigate the Capitol riot.

These actions were practically inspired by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who in a post-impeachment tirade, suggested the former president “didn’t get away with anything, yet.”

“We have a criminal justice system in this country. We have civil litigation,” McConnell said.

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NYT Report: Anti-Trump Republican Adam Kinzinger ‘Unwelcome In His Own Family’

Posted on February 16, 2021 by Rusty Weiss

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

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

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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