U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican, may lose his congressional seat during next year’s redistricting process.
For some of his fellow Republicans, that likely cannot happen soon enough.
Kinzinger voted to impeach former President Donald Trump, cheerfully accepted Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s appointment to the Democrat-heavy Jan. 6 commission, and said on CNN last week that the GOP offers “masquerade conservatism” and should not be elected to the majority in 2022 unless it can “embrace truth” and “have a full reckoning of what happened on January 6” – the riot that has led to no one being charged with sedition or insurrection, but rather generated hundreds of cases of trespassing.
Kinzinger’s latest dig at his own side came on Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” in which he said he agreed with President Joe Biden that Republican governors have been too “cavalier” about protecting their constituents’ lives.
Kinzinger also essentially came out in favor of Biden’s national vaccine mandate and criticized Republicans for using it as a fundraising tool.
“I think it’s going to save lives and the failure here comes in leaders that have basically used vaccine status as some tattoo of what political tribe you belong to,” he said. “I mean, we all hear stories of people that are in, you know, very red areas that are embarrassed to say they’re vaccinated. That is insane and silly, and that is a problem with leaders, particularly Republican leaders, that don’t stand up and give cover to people and say, look, this is not what republicanism or conservativism should be,” said Kinzinger.
“And you see these governors that do, you know? Mike DeWine in Ohio. And they just get pushed aside by some of those that are out to simply manipulate our base, raise money off of them and not care about their life, only care about what it means for their votes and their bottom line as politicians. It’s actually pretty sad.”
Continuing, the congressman added, “When you look at really any Republican – you know, there’s a lot that are not doing this – but there are some, you know, Republican members of Congress and staff putting out fundraising after fundraising email about first, it’s going to be a vaccine mandate – next thing, the Gestapo is going to show up at your door and take your Bible away. Like, that’s not going to happen and that’s playing on people’s fear.”
Kinzinger, oddly, had nothing to say about Biden breaking his own pledge from just a few months ago to not impose a mandate.
Kinzinger also failed to note the racial disparity among the unvaccinated.
For example, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as of Sunday, black Americans who can be vaccinated make up 9.9 percent of the fully vaccinated population, but actually comprise 12.4 percent of the total population in that group.
According to an estimate by the Pew Research Center, there are around 33 million black Americans over the age of 20. Yet the CDC reports as of Sunday that only about 11.2 million – or roughly a third of that population – are fully vaccinated.
Therefore, Biden’s criticism of unvaccinated Americans could be seen as a racial issue.
Last week, Jack Lombardi, a Republican challenger for Kinzinger’s current House district, urged him to switch parties.
“Kinzinger should drop the charade and just switch to the Democratic Party,” Lombardi said in a statement.
“Let’s look at what the consequences will be if we don’t win back the House from the Democrats. A Democratic House in 2022 will mean the Green New Deal that will force countless small businesses to go bankrupt; higher taxes for working families, critical race theory in our schools, defunding the police, appeasement of terrorists and foreign adversaries like China and Russia, runaway inflation, and a continued border crisis,” Lombardi said.
“Adam Kinzinger may support these things, but I don’t and I will oppose them and fight for the values of the Sixteenth District in Congress, unlike the incumbent.”
“Adam, it is time for you to go,” Lombardi added. “The Sixteenth District and America cannot afford you in Congress supporting Nancy Pelosi, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Ilhan Omar.”
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