One Man’s Fight for the Future of the Republican Party

Image Courtesy of Vanity Fair

By Chris Carey

Family condemnation is not unknown in American politics. Ben Franklin and his son William became estranged following their split in loyalties during the American War of Independence. Six siblings of GOP Congressman Paul Gosar loudly and publicly supported his opponent in 2018. Mary Trump spoke out strongly against her uncle President Donald Trump.

Most recent in this group of estranged political figures is Illinois Representative Adam Kinzinger. Eleven members of the six-term Republican’s family drafted a letter condemning his vote to impeach President Trump, stating that he had joined the “devil’s army” that consists of “Democrats and the fake news media.”

The letter was sent to Kinzinger, his father, Republicans across Illinois, and other members of the congressional delegation from Illinois per The New York Times.

“I’m glad the letter came out because I think that people need to see — if you haven’t experienced that division in your family, this is the best example of it,” Kinzinger said in response to the letter.

Kinzinger was one of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach the President earlier this year. Additionally, he was only one of three House Republicans that also chose to remove Marjorie Taylor Greene’s committee assignments. 

These decisions are based largely on Kinzinger’s belief in the future of the Republican Party, which he described during an interview with Chris Cuomo on CNN.

“If you think the Donald Trump thing in the long term is going to be the winning coalition and not somebody … that’s conservative but doesn’t offend people, and … say that you owe me everything, and doesn’t incite insurrections — then we’ll be a minority party forever,” Kinzinger said.

This sort of foreshadowing is interesting in the context of Liz Cheney’s contested run to retain her Chair of the House Republican Caucus and Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Committee removal. Both of these incidents showed the split within the Republican Party, as well as the tendency of some in that party to continue with the traditions instituted by former President Trump.

Republicans like Kinzinger see the dangerous and inflammatory rhetoric championed by Trump, Taylor Greene, and others as a poison to the political future of the party, and he is truly staking all of his political capital on the wager that his assumption is right.

Kinzinger understands that loud anti-Trump voices are rare in the party right now, saying “I wish it was more than just me out there but I’m going to continue to be as loud as I can.”

The 2022 midterm elections will be an indicator as to whether Kinzinger’s Republican Party, or Marjorie Taylor Greene’s, will dominate the Republican Primaries. If both cannot consolidate under a central banner, the true winner will be the Democrats as they take advantage of a fractured Republican electorate, giving credence to Rep. Kinzinger’s prediction that the Republicans will be no more than a minority party for the foreseeable future.