Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) has been one of a handful of Congressional Republicans who are outspoken critics of former President Donald Trump. And he says some of his Republican colleagues have thanked him for speaking out against the former president.
During an appearance on ABC’s “The View” on Wednesday, Kinzinger was asked if he has faced backlash for his criticism of the former president.
“Well, there’s been backlash, you know… within the party base, there’s some of course you know, as we’d expect,” he said, adding, “There’s also been a whole lot of outpouring from people that [said] ‘thanks for saying it. I’ve heard it, even amongst my colleagues: ‘thanks for speaking up.'”
He continued, “What it comes down to is maybe there’s backlash, and maybe there’s not. But putting your career on the line when we’re going out and asking young people to be willing to fight and die to defend this country — being willing to give your career up to defend that same cause, that fidelity to the Constitution, is a small price to pay.”
Finally, he said there is “some pain and some opportunity.”
“But the bottom line is, I’m at total peace with the fact that insurrections can never be acceptable in this country.”
Watch the video below:
Although @RepKinzinger has faced backlash within the Republican party over his strong criticism of former Pres. Trump for the Capitol Hill riot, he tells us he’s “at total peace with the fact that insurrections can never be acceptable in this country.” https://t.co/f8u2wbJuik pic.twitter.com/xTA7boiSiD
— The View (@TheView) February 3, 2021
The Illinois lawmaker was one of ten House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for what Democrats charge is his role in inciting a mob that stormed the U.S Capitol on January 6.
He has since said that his vote on the impeachment measure “could very well be terminal to my career.”
“I also knew that I couldn’t live with myself having, you know, try to just protect it and just felt like the one time I was called to do a really tough duty, I didn’t do it,” he added.
Kinzinger has also urged his colleagues to “push back and say, you know, this is not a Trump-first party, this is a country first part.”
“Until we all kind of stand up and say that, we’re going to be kind of chasing our tail here in this situation,” he added.
