During an appearance on Face The Nation over the weekend, Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) criticized current Republican Party leaders including ex-President Donald Trump for “peddling” fear as a basis for their political agenda. Kinzinger was one of a small number of House Republicans who voted in favor of impeaching Trump on a charge of incitement of insurrection after the Trump-inspired storming of the Capitol last month, and while on CBS this Sunday, he also observed that the GOP is “certainly not united” in their current vision for the future in the wake of the Trump presidency.
Recently, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) put this disunity on display when, at a press availability featuring House GOP leaders, she said that she does not think that Trump should have a role in the future of the Republican Party or country as a whole. Just before she spoke, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) offered the exact opposite perspective, insisting that Trump is right to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) instead of getting de-platformed within the GOP.
On CBS, Kinzinger commented as follows:
‘We may be united in some areas… but I think in terms of what is our vision for the future — certainly not united. I think we are a party that’s been, for too long, peddling in fear, using fear as a compelling way to get votes, and fear does motivate, but after awhile, fear can destroy a country, can destroy narratives, and it can destroy a democracy, and we have to quit peddling that. And I think what you’re gonna hear from the president at CPAC today is self-congratulations, no ability to recognize the fact that we have lost the House, the Senate, and the presidency because of Donald Trump, and you’re gonna see a lot of fear.’
Check out his comments below:
.@RepKinzinger says lawmakers like @BenSasse, @SenatorRomney, @lisamurkowski, and @Liz_Cheney who all voted to impeach Trump at "great personal cost" and shows what America is in need of more "truth telling" pic.twitter.com/ftGQzaLvdk
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) February 28, 2021
Trump is slated to speak at this year’s edition of CPAC on Sunday, hours after Kinzinger’s appearance on CBS. It seems safe to assume that the speech will include reiterations of Trump’s delusional belief that he was the rightful winner of the 2020 presidential election, and it also seems safe to assume that the remarks will include denigrations of Republicans like Kinzinger, Cheney, and others who have opposed Trump in some form. Although Trump no longer has a Twitter account, in the lead-up to his CPAC speech, the ex-president has already reiterated his belief that he was the rightful 2020 election winner.
