Kinzinger Argues the Republican Party Is ‘Not a Trump First Party’

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) is insisting the focus of the Republican party cannot be on former President Donald Trump.

During an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” host Chuck Todd showed Kinzinger a photo of Trump and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).

Todd argued Trump wanted to “rush” the photo out and asked Kinzinger if by doing so it suggests the Republican party has “retied” itself to Trump.

“You know, I think your point about that picture is important. So it shows that the former president is desperate to continue to look like he’s leading the party, and the problem is until we push back and say, you know, this is not a Trump-first party, this is a country first party. In some cases, you may support 👤Donald Trump in that effort, but in my case, I believe that that’s a whole new movement,” Kinzinger said.

He added, “Until we all kind of stand up and say that, we’re going to be kind of chasing our tail here in this situation.”

Watch his comments below:

Kinzinger voted to impeach Trump and acknowledged during an interview with CNN on Thursday it could end his career, as IJR reported.

“I did it knowing full well it could very well be terminal to my career, but I also knew that I couldn’t live with myself having, you know, try to just protect it and just felt like the one time I was called to do a really tough duty, I didn’t do it,” he said.

Kinzinger noted his “passion is the restoration of the Republican Party.”

“I know I may go down fighting like that,” he said.

In his statement announcing he would vote to impeach Trump, Kinzinger said “there is no doubt” Trump “broke his oath of office and incited this insurrection.”