Kinzinger: GOP will ‘be a minority party forever’ if we keep supporting Trump

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) is amping up his calls for the party to split with former President Trump, arguing Republicans won’t take back the majority if they continue to embrace his brand.

“I don’t know what that looks like, all I know is I can rest with real peace knowing that I’m going to fight as hard as I can to get a normal functioning Republican Party,” he told CNN’s Chris Cuomo on Monday night.

Kinzinger is a vocal Trump critic who was one of the 10 GOP lawmakers in the House to vote to impeach the former president for inciting a deadly insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, where rioters attempted to stop the certification of Electoral College votes.

He argued Monday that the direction the party will take remains to be seen, but feels that embracing personality over policy is detrimental to its long-term viability.

The Illinois Republican also noted he outperformed Trump by a sizable margin in his district during the past election cycle.

“I mean look, Chris, in my district I got 65 percent of the vote, Donald Trump got 56 percent of the vote. If you think the Donald Trump thing in the long term is going to be the winning coalition and not somebody like me that’s conservative, but doesn’t offend people and doesn’t go out and attack and say that you owe me everything and doesn’t incite insurrections there will be a minority party forever,” he told CNN.

“I don’t understand why we can’t say such a basic thing which is that Joe Biden is the President,” says Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger. “Look. We lost. Donald Trump lost and instead of complaining about that, we need to figure out why, and try to get more votes… next time.” pic.twitter.com/f0bPvgfQ1w

— Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) February 23, 2021

Kinzinger’s comments come as the party faces an identity crisis on the direction it will take in a post-Trump era. The congressman’s decision to speak out against Trump has sparked backlash within the far-right faction of the party, leading to the Will County Republican Party, in his district, to censure him for his vote to impeach.

Kinzinger also received a letter from 11 of his family members, first published by The New York Times, accusing him of being a “disappointment … to us and to God.” Kinzinger said he is glad the letter was made public since it shows the divisions that can be caused within families over politics.

“I’m glad the letter came out because I think that people need to see — if you haven’t experienced that division in your family, this is the best example of it,” he told CNN.

“So look, I have nothing against them. I mean, maybe someday I’ll have to look back … but I don’t feel it right now. I just have no desire really to reach out and repair it, that’s up to them,” he said.