Andrew Harnik and Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
- Rep. Adam Kinzinger, an anti-Trump Republican, explained why his colleagues don't speak up about Trump.
- "You lose, and you'll be replaced by somebody like a Marjorie Taylor Greene," Kinzinger said.
- Greene responded by saying Kinzinger was "irrelevant at this point."
Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois said that many of his Republican colleagues choose not to speak up about former President Donald Trump and ongoing challenges to democracy because they think they'll lose and be "replaced by somebody like a Marjorie Taylor Greene."
Kinzinger made the reference to the far-right Georgia congresswoman in an interview with Roll Call published on Tuesday. The Illinois Republican explained why he takes a vocal stand against Trump, despite most of his colleagues opting to say silent or supportive of the former President.
"It's really easy to convince yourself that you can't make a difference speaking out loudly," said Kinzinger. "The only thing that can happen is you lose, and you'll be replaced by somebody like a Marjorie Taylor Greene. And that's how these people [in Congress] convince themselves, "Hey, the best thing I can do is go limp."
Kinzinger told Roll Call that he believes "our democracy is under siege" and that "nobody else is coming."
"We have this sense as Americans that somebody else will come and save the day, because we always have," he said. "Nobody's coming, right? It's us. And I don't like the job enough to sell out the future of this country to keep it. So if it costs me my job, great. I'll go make more money and have a way easier life."
He also remarked that he figured a vote on Social Security reform would cost him his political career, rather than the current political dynamics of a former president continuing to claim the election was stolen from him.
Kinzinger is one of two House Republicans - Rep. Liz Cheney is the other - that sit on a Democratic-led select committee investigating the January 6 attack. He was also one of 10 House Republicans that voted to impeach Trump for incitement of an insurrection a week after the January 6 assault on the US Capitol. Greene, meanwhile, has claimed that rioters currently held in federal custody are "being abused."
The Illinois Republican also told Roll Call that he believes it's crucial that the narrative around January 6 is not distorted, and that doing so could imperil American democracy itself.
"If we don't get this right, and the misinformation of "peaceful protests" becomes cemented in narrative, we'll not learn anything and this democracy will be in real trouble," he said.
Reached for comment, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said that Kinzinger was "irrelevant at this point."
"The only people who give him any attention are the Democrat activists in the fake news media," she said. "Who really cares?"
Kinzinger's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.