Trump 'burning the place down' over voter fraud claim, says GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger: 'You can’t handle losing'
Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger has lashed out at President Donald Trump over repeated claim of voter fraud, accusing him of "burning the place down on the way out because you can't handle losing." Trump sent a barrage of tweets on Saturday morning, including one which read: "The 'Justice' Department and the FBI have done nothing about the 2020 Presidential Election Voter Fraud, the biggest SCAM in our nation's history, despite overwhelming evidence. They should be ashamed. History will remember. Never give up. See everyone in D.C. on January 6th." Twitter labeled this tweet as an undisputed claim.
The “Justice” Department and the FBI have done nothing about the 2020 Presidential Election Voter Fraud, the biggest SCAM in our nation’s history, despite overwhelming evidence. They should be ashamed. History will remember. Never give up. See everyone in D.C. on January 6th.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 26, 2020
An hour later, Kinzinger hit out at the president, tweeting, "My God. Trying to burn the place down on the way out because you can’t handle losing. No evidence, nothing but your temper tantrum and crazy conspiracies. Embarrassing. #RestoreOurGOP."
Kinzinger wrote, minutes later: "All this talk about Jan 6th from @realDonaldTrump and other congressional grifters is simply explained: they will raise money and gain followers by blaming everyone else knowing full well they can’t do anything. It’s sad, and an utter scam. #restoreourgop'.
My God. Trying to burn the place down on the way out because you can’t handle losing. No evidence, nothing but your temper tantrum and crazy conspiracies. Embarrassing. #RestoreOurGOP https://t.co/dck64tuxJa
— Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) December 26, 2020
All this talk about Jan 6th from @realDonaldTrump and other congressional grifters is simply explained: they will raise money and gain followers by blaming everyone else knowing full well they can’t do anything. It’s sad, and an utter scam. #restoreourgop
— Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) December 26, 2020
January 6 is an important date for Trump, as he has strong hopes of overturning the results of the 2020 election, something he has been refusing to accept. On that day, Congress will count the Electoral College votes. Kinzinger, 42, who has now won six consecutive terms in the House of Representatives, most recently defeating Democrat Dani Brzozowski with 65 percent of the vote in last month's election, is a new turnabout as he hasn't always been so harsh about the president.
In fact, he has vocally expressed support for Trump's rhetoric regarding the origin of the coronavirus and endorsed the airstrike which resulted in the death of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani a year ago.
According to FiveThirtyEight, Kinzinger has voted in line with Trump 92.2 percent of the time during Trump's presidency, though that number has reduced from 99.0 percent in the first two years to 84.3 percent over the last two years. He was even considered to be the next Air Force secretary under Trump. Recently, Kinzinger emerged as one of the most vocal Republican critics of the president as Trump continues to deny the results of the election. After Trump put out a video statement on December 2, Kinzinger tweeted, "Time to delete your account."
Time to delete your account https://t.co/gURWzRmOW6
— Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) December 3, 2020
He also called out the Texas GOP after their failed attempt to dispute election results at the Supreme Court. "That’s just Adam being Adam. And the president being the president," Illinois Republican Rodney Davis recently said to Politico. "If there is one thing Adam doesn’t care about, it’s being in the line of fire."
Last week, Trump lashed out at the bipartisan $900 billion package in a video he tweeted out on December 22 night and hinted that he may not sign the legislation. He told the lawmakers to increase direct payments for most Americans from $600 to $2,000 for individuals and $4,000 for couples. Furious about the range of provisions in the bill, including foreign aid, he lashed out at lawmakers to "get rid of the wasteful and unnecessary items from this legislation and to send me a suitable bill". He called on Congress to increase the "ridiculously low" $600 checks to $2000. He forgot to mention that the $600 check idea emanated from his own treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin.