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 ABCās āThe Viewā on Wednesday, Kinzinger was asked if he has faced backlash for his criticism of the former president.
āWell, thereās been backlash, you knowā¦ within the party base, thereās some of course you know, as weād expect,ā he said, adding, āThereās also been a whole lot of outpouring from people that āthanks for saying it. Iāve heard it, even amongst my colleagues: āthanks for speaking up.'ā
He continued, āWhat it comes down to is maybe thereās backlash, and maybe thereās not. But putting your career on the line when weāre going out and asking young people to be willing to fight and die to defend this country ā being willing to give your career up to defend that same cause, that fidelity to the Constitution, is a small price to pay.ā
Finally, he said there is āsome pain and some opportunity.ā
āBut the bottom line is, Iām at total peace with the fact that insurrections can never be acceptable in this country.ā
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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 ācould very well be terminal to my career.ā
āI also knew that I couldnāt 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 didnāt do it,ā he added.
Kinzinger has also urged his colleagues to āpush back and say, you know, this is not a Trump-first party, this is a country first part.ā
āUntil we all kind of stand up and say that, weāre going to be kind of chasing our tail here in this situation,ā he added.