Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) slammed House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) for including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and other far-right lawmakers in his GOP agenda rollout.
Kinzinger, who is leaving office after this term because state redistricting made his seat reliably blue, offered his thoughts on McCarthy’s newly unveiled “Commitment to America” plan in a video posted to Twitter on Friday. In it, he argued that the House GOP leader’s unveiling of the post-midterm agenda this week was “an opportunity squandered” by McCarthy’s decision to “once again, bow to the MAGA crowd for his own political gain.”
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“Kevin McCarthy, who is supposed to be the leader of the Republican Party, is instead being led by a conspiracy theorist masquerading as a member of Congress,” the outgoing lawmaker, who sits on the Jan. 6 select committee, said in reference to Greene. “What’s more, he’s all too happy to raise money for his own political gain off her dangerous antics.”
“His actions today show Americans that he not only dismisses the dangers that peddling these conspiracy theories pose on our democracy, but he’s outright supporting it,” he continued. “It is cowardly and disgusting. Republicans deserve better. Americans deserve better than a party that insists on pandering to this nonsense.”
Kinzinger went on to say that Greene has “regurgitated” Russian propaganda used to justify the war in Ukraine by questioning if the Eastern European nation was run by Nazis. He also claimed that Greene has attacked anyone who doesn’t “think, look, or act” like her, referencing when she called on lawmakers of color to go “back to the Middle East.”
Wow. Can you believe this guy? Sellout. @GOPLeader pic.twitter.com/7PlpZDlbQL
— Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) September 23, 2022
Calling it a “profoundly sad moment” for the Republican Party as a whole, Kinzinger also noted how McCarthy condemned this type of behavior “just a few years ago.”
McCarthy unveiled the House GOP’s agenda on Friday from an HVAC factory near Pittsburgh alongside roughly 30 members from different factions of his conference. The members ranged from controversial ones like Greene to Rep. John Katko (R-NY), a centrist who is retiring from Congress after voting to impeach former President Donald Trump.
The four-plank platform includes language calling for “an economy that is strong,” “a government that’s accountable,” “a future that’s free,” and “a nation that’s safe” but does not lay out specific legislation to address these topics. The agenda’s release comes at the height of campaign season ahead of the November midterm elections, when Republicans are expected to retake the lower chamber.
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The House GOP conference lined up behind the platform’s key parts earlier in the week. Members of leadership, including McCarthy, have encouraged their lawmakers to use the plan as a messaging tool as they return to their districts to campaign.
The agenda was inspired by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s “Contract with America,” which is credited with helping the GOP flip the House in 1994, a major year for Republicans.
