Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), a vocal critic of former President Trump, said that some churches have changed from institutions that worshiped God to institutions that worshipped Trump.
Kinzinger, who is one of only two Republicans sitting on the House select committee investigating the events of Jan. 6, 2021, tweeted a video clip of remarks that he made at a conference in April on Friday, stating that the U.S. is in a “leadership crisis.”
“It’s been said that a faith that makes losing a sin will make cheating a sacrament,” he tweeted. “That leadership crisis has spread from DC into our daily lives and even our churches. When leaders refuse to stand up for truth and reject toxic division, we begin to replace God with idols.”
In the video, the Illinois Republican said that government and worship should be separate.
“There are a number of churches that have basically become, you know, from a house of worship of Christ and of God to a house of worship of Donald Trump,” Kinzinger said at an event for The Atlantic titled “Disinformation and the Erosion of Democracy.”
“And if I look in the, what I believe in the New Testament, in the words of Jesus, it was all about not being involved in government,” he added.
The Illinois Republican argues that the church “played a huge role” in getting the country to where it is now politically but that the church would also have a significant “leadership role in getting us out of this moment.”
“We need pastors. We need priests. We need leaders who are going to stand up in front of the pulpit and say, we welcome Democrats in this audience as well, and we’re not going to sit here and worship Donald Trump, because he’s a very flawed man. In fact, all men are flawed,” Kinzinger said in the video.
The Illinois congressman is one of 10 members of his party who voted to impeach Trump for incitement of insurrection.
He announced in October that he would not be running for reelection in 2022 but not as a result of his impeachment vote. Rather, Kinzinger said his decision was based off of a new congressional map in Illinois that put him in the same district as a reliable Trump Republican, Rep. Darin LaHood (R-Ill.).