Kinzinger Taunts Trump Over His ‘Loony’ Nonsense

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Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) publicly called out former President Donald Trump this week over what Kinzinger described as the former president’s “destroyed” legacy. It’s true — Trump has inextricably linked himself with undercuts to democracy, having spent months at this point promoting the outright lie that the democratic system, as it exists in the United States, has somehow failed in light of Biden’s win. No matter any of his other explanations for it, what he wants to replace that supposedly failed democratic system with amounts to authoritarianism with him at the center.

Kinzinger spoke in response to criticism (with which he agreed) from Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) of Trump’s petulant response to a retirement announcement from Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-Ohio). Gonzalez was one of ten House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump on a charge of incitement of insurrection after the Capitol riot in January, and true to form, Trump celebrated Gonzalez’s plans. (He’ll be leaving office once his current term ends.) Kinzinger chimed in with the following:

‘Trump is a weak man who preys on fear. I couldn’t imagine being his age and obsessing about myself so much, knowing my legacy was destroyed.’

This week, Kinzinger also publicly criticized Trump for a letter he sent to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) pushing for the potential de-certification of the presidential election outcome in his state. There is not and has never been any legitimate evidence of the kind of systematic election fraud that would warrant essentially withdrawing the results of the race. Prosecutors in Georgia have been reported to have been examining false statement charges against longtime Trump ally Rudy Giuliani over his promotion of lies about the integrity of the election during legislative proceedings in the state. As Kinzinger put it in response to Donald’s letter:

‘Delusional. And many GOP reps stay silent.’

Kinzinger also spoke more directly about Gonzalez’s retirement plans, adding as follows on Twitter:

‘What a big loss for our country. While looney-Donald may celebrate, the decline of our [nation’s] politics continues. Anthony is a great and selfless leader, everything looney Donald is not.’

Kinzinger was another one of the ten House Republicans to vote in favor of impeaching Trump. Now, he serves alongside Cheney and an array of Democrats on the House committee investigating the Capitol riot. That panel has recently received troves of relevant documents in response to requests for potentially evidentiary material.