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- Representative Kinzinger said on Saturday that “Trump is winning” because so many GOP members “remain silent.”
- Kinzinger spoke about Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, who is retiring next year after voting to impeach Trump.
- “If you think Trump is leading our party, you either own his comments or you have to speak out against them,” Kinzinger told his GOP colleagues.
GOP Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois said on Saturday that former President Donald Trump was “winning” the battle for the leadership of the party because so many Republicans chose to “watch quietly on the sidelines.”
In a video statement who appeared on Twitter, the congressman discussed Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, the Ohio GOP lawmaker who voted to impeach Trump for his Jan. 6 role on Capitol Hill and announced last week that he would not stand would not represent in his decidedly conservative district.
“A few days ago my friend Anthony Gonzales announced he would not be running again, and now pundits and politicians are discussing whether that means Trump won,” Kinzinger said. “So let me answer that question. Yes, from now on Trump is winning. Not because Anthony decided not to run, but because so many members of the Republican Party have decided to remain silent. “
He added: “Ten of us voted to remove the old guy, fulfilling our constitutional duty, but so many GOP colleagues are watching, lacking the courage to speak out while privately hoping for change.”
The congressman has made it clear that Republicans who choose to remain silent are complicit in endorsing Trump’s behavior.
—Adam Kinzinger (@AdamKinzinger) September 18, 2021
“The future of power and politics in this country does not lie with the ten of us,” he said. “This relies on the courage of the 180 other people who have remained silent so far. My GOP colleagues, now is the time to speak.”
He added: “If you think Trump is leading our party, you either own his comments or you have to denounce them. If you think he is not leading our party, you have to say so publicly. The time for hiding is over. “
Trump has doubled his efforts to demand retaliation against Republicans who voted for his impeachment; at a rally in Ohio in June, the former president targeted Gonzalez and called him “shame.”
When Gonzalez announced his retirement last week, he cited the “toxic” state of politics as one of the reasons he chose to leave the House.
“While my desire to build a fuller family life is at the heart of my decision, it is also true that the current state of our politics, especially many toxic dynamics within our party, is an important factor in my decision, ”Gonzalez said. said in a declaration.
Kinzinger, who was one of ten Republicans to impeach Trump for “inciting insurgency,” has been a thorn in the side of the former president for months by calling for responsibility for the then Jan. 6 riot. that many members of his party have chosen to move on. of the incident.
Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Kinzinger are the only two Republicans on the select committee to investigate the insurgency.
In an interview On ABC’s “This Week” last month, the congressman said he would be prepared to use subpoenas to compel people to testify before the committee about Jan.6.
“I think this is (…) the chance we have as a country to get answers about what led to it, what really happened and what happened afterwards” , did he declare. “I would expect to see a significant number of subpoenas for a lot of people. But I think the most important message that is going to come out is that the American people deserve the truth.”
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