Trump touts Kinzinger’s retirement: ‘2 down, 8 to go’

Former President Trump gloated Friday after Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) announced he will not seek reelection in 2022, a decision that made him the latest House GOP critic of Trump’s to make plans to exit Congress.

“2 down, 8 to go!” Trump said in a brief statement through his leadership PAC, Save America. 

Kinzinger is the second House Republican who voted earlier this year to impeach Trump to announce retirement plans.

Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-Ohio), who also broke party lines in the impeachment vote, said last month that he wouldn’t seek reelection. 

Had he decided to run for reelection, Gonzalez would have faced a challenging primary against a Trump-backed candidate. 

In all, 10 House Republicans voted in January to impeach Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Since then, each has drawn the ire of the former president, who has vowed to campaign against his detractors within the GOP next year.

Despite the strong headwinds Kinzinger faced within his own party, however, there were other forces at play in his decision to retire. Illinois lawmakers on Thursday night approved a new congressional map that did away with his Republican-majority district. 

Under the new map, Kinzinger would have been lumped into the same district as Rep. Darin LaHood (R). Had he run for reelection, Kinzinger would have likely faced a bruising primary brawl against a reliable ally of Trump’s.