GOP’s Adam Kinzinger, Outspoken Trump Critic, Says He Won’t Seek Re-Election to Congress

Congressman Adam Kinzinger, a Republican from Illinois’ 16th District known for his outspoken criticism of former President Donald Trump, announced in a video on Friday, October 29, that he would not be seeking re-election to the House in 2022. Kinzinger, formerly a lieutenant colonel in the US Air Force, cited tribalism, extremism, and the polarized nature of the American political system as factors in his decision, though he did not mention any political party or politician by name in the near-5-minute message. “Our political parties only survive by appealing to the most motivated and the most extreme elements within it,” Kinzinger says in the video, "and the price tag to power has skyrocketed, and fear and distrust has served as an effective strategy to meet that cost. “Dehumanizing each other has become the norm,” Kinzinger continues. "We’ve taken it from social media to the streets. We’ve allowed leaders to reach power selling the false premise that strength comes from degrading others, and dehumanizing those that look, act, or think differently than we do. “As a country, we’ve fallen for those lies and now we face a poisoned country filled with outrage blinding our ability to achieve real strength,” Kinzinger says. “We must unplug from the mistruths we’ve been fed,” he added. Kinzinger says he could more effectively engage in a “broader fight nationwide” to “break the narrative” without having to pursue a re-election campaign at the same time. Toward the end of the video, he promotes the “Country First” political action committee (PAC) he founded in the wake of January 6, saying Americans needed to “reclaim our country from the dividers, the corrupt, and the cynical.” Credit: Adam Kinzinger via Storyful

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