Reps. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) have been quite outspoken on political violence as a threat to “our democracy.” Both have tried to tie political violence to former President Donald Trump through the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021 (all the while seemingly ignoring the rioting, violence, and destruction from BLM and antifa in 2020). Yet, given their concerns about political violence, neither mentioned anything about the attack on their congressional colleague Lee Zeldin last week. It’s been a week since the attack, and neither of them said anything on any of their Twitter accounts.
Both have repeatedly tweeted that violence has no place in politics in a democracy. It is puzzling that neither said anything. Even Democrats such as President Joe Biden condemned the attack on Zeldin. So, why didn’t fellow Republicans Cheney and Kinzinger?
Worth remembering: Josh Hawley was the first senator to say he would object to the electoral college, causing a cascade of Ted Cruz-es. There would not have been as much oxygen to trumps coup plan without Fistpump McRunpants. pic.twitter.com/V7uRnNM5f5
— Adam Kinzinger????✌️ (@AdamKinzinger) July 22, 2022
Heck, Kinzinger, on multiple occasions, tweeted pictures of Sen. Josh Hawley running out of the Capitol on Jan. 6 but couldn’t send one tweet about Zeldin? Instead of expressing sympathy toward Zeldin, or condemning an act of political violence, it was more important for Kinzinger to tweet “#fistpumpmcrunpants,” whatever that means.
— Adam Kinzinger????✌️ (@AdamKinzinger) July 22, 2022
A safe assumption about their silence on Zeldin is that this attack did not fit their anti-Trump agenda.
Cheney and Kinzinger have every right to denounce the violence on Jan. 6. It was wrong and should rightfully be condemned. But so, too, was the attack on Zeldin, which is something one would assume Kinzinger and Cheney would have done. The fact neither of them tweeted anything about Zeldin questions how genuine their concern over political violence really is.
If the attacker of Zeldin were a Trump acolyte or MAGA sycophant, Kinzinger and Cheney would have paraded it as prima facie evidence of the horrors of political violence and how Trump is causing these threats to our democracy. But at this point, Kinzinger and Cheney are merely anti-Trump political mercenaries, not guardians against domestic terrorism or acts of political violence. And, quite frankly, after this, it is hard to take seriously anything either of them says about the dangers of political violence.
