Rep. Adam Kinzinger says the RNC censuring him and Rep. Liz Cheney may be 'a pretty big backfire'

• Adam Kinzinger told "The Bulwark" podcast that the RNC censuring him may be "a pretty big backfire."

• The RNC voted at its winter meeting to censure the Illinois lawmaker and Rep. Liz Cheney.

• "Whether this is the beginning of the end, I don't know, but it's certainly backfiring," Kinzinger said.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger said in an interview with "The Bulwark" podcast that the Republican National Committee censuring him and Rep. Liz Cheney "may actually be a pretty big backfire."

"There's no leadership in the RNC. And the people that were there, whether its on the committee or the larger vote, knew that this was dumb, didn't agree with it, but didn't have the courage to stand out, is a microcosm of what's happening on a broader scale in this country which is, 'I'm going to stay quiet so I don't get the gander of the mob up,'" Kinzinger told host Charlie Sykes, founder and editor-at-large of "The Bulwark."

"So I don't care. I know Liz didn't lose an ounce of sleep about it. And I think, I actually believe this may actually be a pretty big backfire on the RNC. Whether this is the beginning of the end, I don't know, but it's certainly backfiring," Kinzinger added.

The RNC at its winter meeting on Friday voted to approve a resolution to censure Cheney and Kinzinger — both vocal critics of former President Donald Trump — for serving on the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 insurrection.

RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel also faced backlash for the censure resolution's wording, which accused Cheney and Kinzinger of persecuting "ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse."

Nearly every GOP senator, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and multiple Republican governors denounced the censures. The censure and especially the description of the Capitol riot as "legitimate political discourse" highlighted the intraparty fighting and put many Republicans on the defense as the GOP tries to win back both houses of Congress in the 2022 midterms.

The Washington Post and The New York Times have reported that the "legitimate political discourse" phrasing was added in at the last minute, with many RNC members being left blindsided by the rushed drafting of the resolution.

Sykes, a former conservative radio host turned Trump critic, called the censure resolution an "own goal" and its drafting "inept."

"We've had these experiences before, like this is the turning point, this is going to be the no shame moment, and have been disappointed. But this did seem to generate quite a blowback. What are you seeing?" Sykes asked Kinzinger.

"I think it did. I don't know whether this is the turning point, whether we'll have a turning point, whether this is it, or whether this is building blocks of people finally waking up," Kinzinger said on the podcast.

Kinzinger added that "every member of Congress, every member of the Senate, I believe, every member of the state house, all the way up and down, that calls themselves a Republican, should be forced to answer no other question but this one: Do you think the RNC censuring Kinzinger and Cheney was right or wrong?"

"It's time to take sides," Kinzinger said. "Everyone needs to be on record now."

When the Senate reconvened on Monday, Republicans including Sen. Susan Collins and Sen. Mitt Romney, McDaniel's uncle, criticized the resolution as dividing the GOP ahead of critical midterm elections.

And at his Tuesday news conference, McConnell rebuked the RNC censure and reiterated that January 6 was a "violent insurrection for the purpose of trying to prevent the peaceful transfer of power after a legitimately certified election."

"The issue is whether or not the RNC should be sort of singling out members of our party who may have different views than the majority," McConnell said. "That's not the job of the RNC."

Read the original article on Business Insider