Rep. Kinzinger launches new PAC and says “the future of the GOP is on the line”

Posted on February 1, 2021
On Sunday morning, Rep. Kinzinger launched a “Country first” political action committee aimed at bringing values back to the Republican party. (Photo courtesy: Country First/Twitter)

By Blake Haas

BLOOMINGTON – After becoming the first Republican to vote to impeach former President Donald Trump, a Northern Illinois lawmaker with ties to Central Illinois is creating a new movement to push back against his party.

In a six-minute video posted to social media early Sunday morning, State Rep. Adam Kinzinger announced a new “Country First” PAC (Political Action Committee) pointing to the Capitol insurrection as a breaking point.

Rep. Kinzinger, who represents the 16th district in Northern Illinois, said “the Republican party has lost its way,” and “outrage has replaced opportunity.”

“The party that always spoke of a brighter tomorrow, it no longer does. It talks about a darker future instead. Hope is given away to fear, outrage has replaced opportunity, and worst of all, our deep convictions are ignored. They’ve been replaced by poisonous conspiracies and lies. This is not the Republic road, and now we know exactly where this new and dangerous road leads. It leads to insurrection, an armed attack on the Congress, it leads to the murder of a capitol police officer, and the deaths of four of our fellow Americans.

Most House of Representatives voted against impeaching former President Trump, while Kinzinger was only one of 10 Republicans to vote in favor of impeachment, joining all 222 Democrats.

“The future of the GOP is on the line, and what we do will determine where America goes from here,” Kinzinger added in a video filmed around Washington, D.C. “Will we pray upon people’s fears, or will we draw upon their hopes?”

WATCH: Rep. Adam Kinzinger launches new “America First” PAC. 

Kinzinger, who spent time serving on the McLean County Board from 1998 to 2003, was first elected to Congress in 2010.

Blake Haas can be reached at [email protected].

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