Paul Ryan to headline Kinzinger fundraiser

Former House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) is set to headline a fundraiser on Monday for Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), an ardent critic of former President Trump and one of 10 House Republicans who voted in January to impeach the former president.

The fundraiser was first reported by Politico, which obtained a copy of an invitation for the event. Tickets start at $250 per person and go up to $11,600. 

Trump has vowed to campaign against Republican lawmakers who voted to impeach him earlier this year for his role in inciting the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Kinzinger hasn’t quieted down his criticism of the former president since then, even as he has acknowledged that he could pay a political price in his 2022 reelection bid.

Ryan, who left office in 2019 after Democrats won the House majority, has sparred with Trump at times. He was sharply critical of Republican efforts earlier this year to challenge President Biden’s Electoral College victory, calling the objections “anti-democratic and anti-conservative.”

Trump, meanwhile, has continued to falsely assert that the 2020 election was “rigged” and that he is the rightful winner of the race. Those claims, critics argue, helped spur the events of Jan. 6, when a mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol. 

Ryan’s expected appearance at a fundraiser for Kinzinger marks a clear effort against Trump, who remains the most influential figure in GOP politics and commands the support of an ultra-loyal base of voters who are eager to punish his perceived enemies.