Adam Kinzinger Calls Republicans Cowards For Not Condemning Pelosi Attack

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) said that he and Liz Cheney aren’t brave for strongly condemning the attack on Paul Pelosi but that they are surrounded by cowards in the Republican Party.

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Kinzinger was asked why it is so hard for Republicans to condemn the attack on Paul Pelosi.

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He answered:

Because we’re close to an election. In the new view on the extreme is you don’t ever admit defeat, never back off. When Elon deleted his tweet, people were like you’re acquiescing to the left-wing mob, I want to make it clear — by the way, Liz and I are not courageous. There’s no strength in this. We’re just surrounded by cowards.

It looks like courage when it’s your bare duty. Some of what you see on the conspiracy right is that, well, look, back in 2013, he was a nudist or something, or he was a Bernie or whatever it was. There was something on the left. What that proves to me is how quickly people have been radicalized into this Qanon thing. Everybody has a friend that used to be somebody on the left or in the center or reasonable that within a period of a month or two is reading the internet and is now radicalized. That goes to show me the huge issue that we have here.

Rep. Kinzinger was correct on both of his points. The Republican reaction has been cowardice. Republicans have either issued generic statements condemning violence but never condemning the lies of Donald Trump that radicalize people like Pelosi’s attacker, or they mock the attack and joke about it.

As Rachel Maddow pointed out, joking about the attack is the same as endorsing political violence as an acceptable path to power. 

Republicans are cowards. The fact that Kinzinger and Cheney aren’t doesn’t make them brave, just decent human beings.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association