Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) went after the Republican Party and slammed members for sheltering “the ignorant” and “the racist” in a fiery final speech from the House floor on Thursday.
The outgoing GOP lawmaker, who has been in Congress for over a decade, declined to seek reelection this year and used his farewell speech to remind Republicans and Democrats that they shouldn’t let go of their belief in the Constitution.
“We all swore an oath in this very chamber to support and defend the Constitution of the United States ― not a political party and not a single man,” Kinzinger said. “Let us renew this belief while casting out those that take the unprecedented call to abolish this sacred document.”
Kinzinger later criticized the Republican National Committee’s vote last year to censure him ― along with outgoing Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who was co-chair of the House select committee ― following their involvement in the efforts to investigate the events surrounding the deadly attack at the U.S. Capitol days before Trump left office in 2021.
He questioned leaders who “belittle, and in some cases justify, attacks on the U.S. Capitol as ‘legitimate political discourse,’” words which the RNC used to refer to the events on Jan. 6 in its resolution condemning the two Republicans.
“The Republican Party used to believe in a big tent, which welcomed the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” Kinzinger said. “Now we shelter the ignorant, the racist, who only stoke anger and hatred to those who are different than us.”
You can watch more from Kizinger’s remarks on the House floor below.
