During an appearance on Meet the Press over the weekend, Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) expressed firm support for removing Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) from committee assignments in Congress. In recent days, Greene and the Republicans who are enabling her have faced steep criticism over resurfaced comments from the first-term Georgia Congresswoman, whose past rhetoric includes repeated expressions of apparent support for the execution of prominent Democrats. Among other examples of her incendiary behavior, she also repeatedly expressed agreement with Facebook commenters who described the 2018 Parkland shooting as a “false flag planned shooting” and “fake.”
At this point, it’s unclear what substantive steps that House Republican leaders might actually be willing to take. Recently, those leaders elevated Greene to a spot on the House Education and Labor Committee. Meanwhile, Kinzinger commented as follows when asked what he would do if faced with a vote on a measure to “evict” Greene from Congress altogether:
‘I’d certainly vote her off committee. In terms of eviction, I’m not sure, because I’m kind of in the middle. I think a district has every right to put who they want there, but we have every right to take a stand, and say you don’t get a committee, and we definitely need to do that.’
Watch his comments below:
WATCH: Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) says Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) shouldn't be evicted from Congress because a district's voters have "every right to put who they want" in office.@RepKinzinger: "I'd certainly vote her off committee." pic.twitter.com/pIcPtnZCGF
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) January 31, 2021
Kinzinger, who was one of just ten House Republicans who voted to impeach then-President Donald Trump over his incitement of deadly rioting at the U.S. Capitol, also addressed a recent visit by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to Mar-a-Lago, the ex-president’s Florida resort, where Trump has been staying since the White House. A smiling photo of McCarthy and Trump emerged as though the ex-president didn’t incite an insurrection attempt at the U.S. Capitol less than a month prior.
Trump is “desperate to continue to look like he’s leading the party,” Kinzinger noted, adding as follows:
‘The problem is: Until we push back and say this is not a Trump-first party, this is a country-first party — in some cases, you may support Donald Trump in that effort, but in my case, I believe that that’s a whole new movement — until we all kind of stand up and say that, we’re gonna be chasing our tail here in this situation… There’s a lot of folks out there that have texted me, called me, written — everything — that say thank you for saying something.’
Watch below:
EXCLUSIVE: @RepKinzinger responds to Rep. Kevin McCarthy's Mar-a-Lago visit, says "this is not a Trump first party, this is a country first party." #MTP
"Until we all stand up and say that, we are going to be chasing our tails here." pic.twitter.com/n6ToaxN07O
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) January 31, 2021
