Rep. Adam Kinzinger said Friday evening that he hopes the Republican Party will reject former President Donald Trump and return to its conservative roots.
Per Newsweek , speaking with Real Time host Bill Maher, Kinzinger said that he wants a GOP that “isn’t crazy” and can be a “productive member of a government that basically has two parties.”
Under Trump’s leadership, he continued, the Republican Party has relied on fearmongering to win elections, with lawmakers demonizing Democrats and warning of radical “socialism.”
“We have learned, and I can only speak as a Republican looking at the Republicans, we’ve learned you can get elected on a steady diet of fear,” Kinzinger noted, saying that his party’s alarmism has caused “real damage” to American democracy.
The congressman explained that many of his colleagues live in “fear” of losing their seats and rely on constantly attacking their political opponents.
Kinzinger, who was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump, said that his own friends and family have become convinced that he has “embraced the devil.”
Many conservative voters feel the same and genuinely believe Trump fought against satanic forces, Kinzinger claimed.
“The level of brainwashing among some people…they truly believe they are fighting against the forces of evil just because the person they thought was the second coming [of Jesus Christ] happened to lose.”
The Republican said that Trump was “crazing these people to believe they were somehow doing a service for this country.”
As Newsweek noted, Kinzinger recently urged his Republican colleagues to vote to convict Trump in the Senate impeachment trial, warning that the future of their party, as well as the future of the nation, depends on their actions.
At least 17 Republicans would have to vote with their counterparts across the aisle to convict Trump, which means that he is all but certain to be acquitted of all charges.
Trump has indicated that he intends to play a role in the Republican Party for years to come. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina revealed Friday that he will soon meet with the former president to discuss the future of the GOP. Graham added that he will do his best to persuade Trump that the party needs to be united in order to win the 2022 midterm elections.
According to the latest CNBC All-America Economic Survey, conservative voters want Trump to remain head of their party. In the poll, 74 percent of Republican respondents said that he should stay politically active in some way.
