Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL).
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- Rep. Adam Kinzinger criticized his party in an MSNBC interview on Friday.
- “We have a truth crisis in this party,” he said.
- Kinzinger is an outspoken critic of Trump and one of two Republicans serving on the January 6 committee.
GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois on Friday fiercely criticized his own party, telling MSNBC in an interview that Republicans need to return to the truth.
Kinzinger said the GOP is unrecognizable today because “what has changed is the use of conspiracy” and “the absolute lack of courage to call it out.”
“It’s sad because the Republican Party will exist,” he said. “But it has lost, in a lot of people’s minds, any credibility. And it’s going to take a while to get it back.”
“We have a truth crisis in this party,” Kinzinger continued. “You can have different opinions. But you can’t have a different truth.”
The lawmaker also described “the fear” that’s spread among Republican leaders “against a man that is basically insane sending out press releases from Mar-a-Lago,” referring to former President Donald Trump.
Unlike many members of his party, Kinzinger has often publicly rebuked Trump and rose to prominence as a vocal critic of the former president, which he has faced backlash over.
Kinzinger also commented on the lies spread about the 2020 presidential election, which lead to Trump supporters violently storming the Capitol on January 6 last year.
“When you undermine [the voting process] through lies to people, violence is not a surprise,” he said.
Kinzinger’s remarks on Friday come as the House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection digs into what happened in the leadup to and during the riot. Kinzinger and Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming are the only Republicans serving on the congressional panel. Several Republican figures, including Trump, have mocked the committee and its probe.
In his MSNBC interview, the congressman also touched on this year’s midterm elections with Republicans vying to take control of Congress.
“You have to tell people the truth. And right now, everybody’s got their hand in the sand because they want to win reelection. What’s winning reelection honestly worth if you can’t actually do your job of telling people the truth, or you’re ashamed to look yourself in the mirror?”
Kinzinger announced last year that he will not seek reelection.
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