Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), one of the ten Republicans who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump, is launching a political action committee (PAC) to challenge leadership in the GOP still aligned with the former president.
Kinzinger, who was once part of the 2010 class of Tea Party Republicans, said the Capitol Hill riots on January 6 was the straw that broke the camel’s back for the direction of the Republican Party, dividing those who wanted to move towards autocracy and those who wanted to return to a path of traditional conservatism, the Washington Post reported.
Kinzinger formally introduced his Country 1st PAC in a Sunday Meet the Press interview, followed by a six-minute campaign-style video launching what he hopes will transform the party from its current state.
“The reality is this: This is a time to choose … And my goal in launching Country1st.com is just to say, look, let’s take a look at the last four years, how far we have come in a bad way, how backward-looking we are, how much we peddle darkness and division,” Kinzinger said on the program.
“And that’s not the party I ever signed up for. And I think most Republicans didn’t sign up for that,” he added.
Kinzinger did a soft launch of his PAC with a group of reporters via Zoom on Saturday, telling them “it’s time for [Republicans] to unplug the outrage machine.”
“Republicans must say enough is enough. It’s time to unplug the outrage machine, reject the politics of personality, and cast aside the conspiracy theories and the rage,” Kinzinger says in the launch video.
He also called politicians such as Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) “political terrorists.”
Kinzinger says he is not vying for leadership in the GOP or some form of higher office. His goal is just to drive the conspiracy theorists and racists out of the Republican Party.
“We don’t embrace conspiracy theories to win anymore,” he said. “Would we lose the Proud Boys? Maybe, I’m fine with that.”
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