Kinzinger Says He Wanted a Vote of No Confidence Against McCarthy After Jan 6: ‘Should at Least Have His Leadership Challenged’
Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) said Monday he supported a vote on House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) leadership in the aftermath of January’s unrest in Washington, D.C., but that he failed to garner much support for the move.
“The person that should have their leadership challenged was Kevin McCarthy after January 6, because that’s why this all happened,” Kinzinger said at a National Press Club event Monday afternoon. “I was considering, you know, having a vote of no confidence against Kevin, and our feeling was no, let’s move on. We’re gonna vote to impeach the president, we need to move on.
“I didn’t go too far and wide with it yet, and I chatted with kind of a close group of mine,” he said. “And the feeling in that close group — I won’t reveal who it is — but the feeling [in] that group was kind of, you know, we’re taking a big step, the president is going to be XYZ, and now it’s time that we have to heal as a party. All right? I was like, ‘Well, I’m not going to do it alone. I still believe that Kevin should at least have his leadership challenged.’ And then everybody went on the offense against Liz.”
He was referring to Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), the third-ranking House Republican who has been vocally critical of former President Donald Trump at almost every opportunity since he left office in January. House Republicans are scheduled to vote on whether to remove Cheney from their leadership team as early as Wednesday, and to replace her with Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), who is running against her.
Kinzinger said he wasn’t happy about the development. “Liz is the one playing defense, for what? What was she playing defense for, for telling the truth and not ransacking the Capitol on January 6? If you think about it from the forest, it’s ludicrous that she’s having to defend herself. Like, that’s insane. But that’s where we are.”
He also said he expressed his opinions to McCarthy, but lamented that he didn’t seem to agree. “I was on a phone call with Kevin McCarthy and the Republican conference a couple of days prior to January 6th,” Kinzinger said. “And I had said on a few media outlets that I was very concerned about violence on the 6th. … And I said, ‘Kevin, with all this, basically, B.S. we’re saying about ‘We can make sure the election isn’t certified, it was stolen, etc.,’ I’m really concerned about violence on January 6th.’ The response I got was basically that cricket sound and then, ‘Okay, Adam. Operator, next caller.'”
Watch above via C-SPAN.
