Kinzinger on GOP reactions to Trump verdict: Party ‘has lost all ability to think for itself’

Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) lamented that his party has “lost all ability to think for itself” as GOP figures rush to defend former President Trump following his felony conviction in New York.

“Watching my party — the party of law and order — absolutely turn their guns against the jury, against the judge, against the system … this party has lost all ability to think for itself,” Kinzinger said Friday on “CNN This Morning.”

He said it’s “not just, like, crazy people” in the party acting that way, pointing to Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). 

Rubio slammed the verdict as “terrible” and decried the “ridiculous” charges. Graham called it a “mockery of justice.” Some GOP names being floated as possible Trump running mates have also come to his defense.

A jury in Manhattan found Trump guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records in his historic hush money case Thursday, making him the first former president to be convicted of a felony. Trump has blasted the verdict as “rigged” and described himself as “a very innocent man” — and is expected to appeal.

Kinzinger, who served on the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, said “the most important” cases against Trump are those related to that day’s attack and his handling of classified documents — but said there’s “no doubt” that Trump also violated the law in New York’s case.

“How a single Republican can stand on any network … and say that what happened is a disgrace — never claim to be the party of law and order after that,” Kinzinger said on CNN. “We should be proud that the American legal system worked.”