Representative Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) was the first Republican to come out in support of a resolution to compel former Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment after former President Donald Trump incited the Capitol insurrection. He says he knows it has damaged his future career prospects.
“The only hope you have is to accept the fact that you’re already dead,” he told The Washington Post, quoting a scene from the HBO World War II series Band of Brothers.
“I’m willing to blow this whole thing out of the water at all times,” he said of his career in politics, noting that since he voiced support for holding the former president accountable, he has “felt very isolated in my party. Very isolated and very lonely.”
Kinzinger believes the Republican Party will face a major reckoning now that Trump is no longer in power, highlighting the fractures within the party itself as part of it tries to move forward and the other part continues to try and court Trump’s base, who believe his unfounded claims that the election was fraudulent.
“I think we’re going to have an epic battle in the next six months for the definition of this party,” Kinzinger said.
The interview was published a day after 45 Republican senators voted against holding an impeachment trial for the former president, arguing that holding a trial for a president who is no longer in office would be unconstitutional.
“Private citizens don’t get impeached. Impeachment is for removal from office, and the accused here has already left office,” Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) told reporters yesterday. “Forty-five votes means the impeachment trial is dead on arrival.”
Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), one of five Republicans to vote for the trial, disagreed.
“My review of it has led me to conclude it is constitutional in recognizing impeachment is not solely about removing a president, it is also a matter of political consequence,” she said.
