- GOP Representative Adam Kinzinger launched a new PAC to work against Republicans still aligned with Trump.
- Kinzinger is one of 10 GOP members who voted to impeach Trump.
- He is dealing with backlash, including his family who petitioned him to be disowned.
- Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories.
GOP Representative Adam Kinzinger has launched a new political action committee to push back against Republicans embracing former President Donald Trump.
“The Republican Party has lost its way. If we want to take charge again, we must muster the courage to remember who we are,” Kinzinger said in a video posted to the new Country First PAC website.
The PAC aims to put money into candidates who oppose Trump’s influence on the party.
“We have to remember what we believe and why we believe it,” Kinzinger said. “Looking in the mirror can be difficult, but the time has come to choose what kind of party we will be in and what kind of future we will fight for.”
On Jan. 6, Trump supporters broke into the U.S. Capitol and clashed with law enforcement, halting a joint session of Congress when lawmakers would certify President Joe Biden’s election victory. Five people were killed in the attack.
Trump was criticized for encouraging the crowd and the House has since accused him of instigating an uprising. The Senate will hold a lawsuit in the week of February 8 and vote on whether or not to condemn the former president.
Kinzinger was one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump. He told Insider’s Anthony Fisher that his family has since circulated a petition to disown him.
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The Illinois Congressman also told Fisher that he felt Trump should be impeached because, “We need to put red lines. An attack on one branch of the government by another branch is a red line. We can’t say you’re immune to it. a kind of impeachment if you are within a certain time of leaving office. That’s a terrible precedent. “
Kinzinger was critical of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s visit to Trump’s Florida home on Thursday, saying the GOP is not a “Trump first party.”
“The former president is desperate to continue to seem like he is running the party. And the problem is until we push back and say, you know, this is not a Trump first party, this is a country first party,” Kinzinger told Chuck . Todd in an interview about it Meet the press on Sunday.
“In some cases you support Donald Trump in that effort. But in my case I think that’s a whole new movement,” Kinzinger said. “Until we all get up and say that, we’re going to be chasing our tail a little bit here in this situation.”