Adam Kinzinger admits ‘Trump is winning’, urges GOP to resist ‘lies’

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, Republican of Illinois and staunch critic of former President Donald Trump, admitted in a video statement on Saturday that Trump is currently “winning” the battle for party control, but urged GOP lawmakers to take a stand against his “absolute lies”.

Kinzinger, along with nine other House Republicans, voted to impeach Trump for instigating his supporters to attack the U.S. Capitol on Jan.6. Along with Rep. Liz Cheney, a Republican from Wyoming, Kinzinger has become one of Trump’s most vocal House Republican critics and sits on the 1/6 Select Committee of Inquiry.

“A few days ago my friend [Representative] Anthony Gonzalez has announced that he will not run again. And now pundits and politicians are wondering if that means Trump won, ”Kinzinger said in a video posted on Twitter Saturday. “So let me answer this question: yes, from now on, Trump is winning,” the Illinois Republican said.

Gonzalez, a Republican from Ohio, also voted to impeach Trump. The former president backed Gonzalez’s challenger Max Miller in February, and the GOP congressman on Thursday announced he would not stand for re-election in 2022, calling Trump “cancer for the country.”

Kinzinger said Trump was “winning” because many Republican Party lawmakers refused to stand up to the former president. He urged his GOP colleagues to publicly reject Trump and the misinformation he continues to spread about the 2020 election.

“The Republican Party won’t improve if you don’t stand up,” he said. “Do you allow the former president to continue his outright lies? Ten of us voted to impeach Trump, 180 remain silent and now it’s our turn. When we all take sides publicly, we can respond once and for all to the question: is it? ‘”

Kinzinger and Cheney received a big backlash from their fellow Republicans due to their repeated criticism of Trump and their willingness to sit on the Jan.6 select committee.

The House Freedom Caucus, a staunchly conservative group of GOP lawmakers, urged House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California, to expel Cheney and Kinzinger from the House Republican Conference. McCarthy also criticized Cheney and Kinzinger, calling them “Pelosi Republicans” because of their role on the January 6 committee created by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Trump and many of his allies continue to claim that the November election was “rigged” or “stolen” in favor of President Joe Biden. They did not provide any evidence to support this extraordinary claim. Dozens of election challenge lawsuits have failed in state and federal courts, even Trump-appointed judges and other Republicans easily dismissing cases.

The baseless claims of widespread electoral fraud stirred many in the crowd of hundreds of Trump supporters who attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6. of this aggression. While Kinzinger, Cheney, and several other Republicans criticized Trump in the wake of the Jan.6 attack, most GOP lawmakers either remained silent or continued to vocally support the former president.

News week contacted Trump’s press office for comment but did not immediately receive a response.