Kinzinger says ‘uneasy alliances’ needed to fight Trump influence

Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger (Ill.) called on non-GOP members to create an “uneasy alliance” with anti-Trump Republicans who are facing off in primaries against candidates who have been endorsed by the former U.S. president.

Speaking to The Associated Press, Kinzinger warned that failure to shift the GOP away from Trump’s influence could lead to a “failed state.”

“People need to wake up to that real possibility,” Kinzinger told the AP. “We have to be able to have uneasy alliances, as uneasy as they may be in this moment.”

Kinzinger, who is not running for reelection in 2022, has been among the most vocal GOP critics of former President Trump, being one of the first to directly blame him for the events of Jan. 6. Soon after the attack, Kinzinger launched a new PAC with the goal of challenging the Republican Party’s embrace of Trump.

While his PAC, Country First, has claimed to have raised over $2 million so far and gained over 100,000 members, Kinzinger acknowledged that he faced an uphill battle.

“We’re underdogs,” Kinzinger said to the AP. “But without an underdog coming in and taking on a fight … nothing’s going to change.”

As the AP noted, Kinzinger’s Country First PAC picked the winners in eight out of 11 state House races this past November. However, the group is now aiming to change its strategy to also target moderate and Democratic voters.

The PAC has posted instructions for moderates and Democrats on how to participate in Republican primary elections, with around two dozen states having “open” primaries. The organization has not yet decided on which races to concentrate on, but co-founder Austin Weatherford said a team of law students is currently going over the political map to determine the top elections to focus on.

Kinzinger’s opposition to Trump may threaten his standing in the Republican Party. On Tuesday, it was reported that the Republican National Committee will debate a resolution put forth by former Trump campaign adviser David Bossie to expel both Kinzinger and fellow GOP Trump critic Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.), the only two Republicans who sit on the House select committee on Jan. 6.