Kinzinger political organization calls on voters to reject extremist candidates

A political group led by former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), who voted to impeach former President Trump, is unveiling a national ad push to urge voters to reject political extremism.

Kinzinger, who did not run for reelection in 2022, told Politico that the ad push, which is centered around a six-minute short film, is meant to show people that there is a “completely different way” than the political polarization between the Republican and Democratic parties.

“What we’re showing, by the video, is we’ve been programmed so much to believe that there’s only two choices to everything, that the other side is our enemy, that each event in the world should be seen through blue or red glasses,” Kinzinger said. “And we’re saying there’s a completely different way.”

The ad blitz — which Kinzinger said would cost around a quarter of a million dollars or more — is centered around a short film based on the “1984” Super Bowl advertisement by Apple, showing people wearing blue and red-tinted goggles and being shown divisive video clips from political events over the past few years.

It was then overlaid with a speech from Kinzinger, urging people to reject political extremism. 

Performance artists dressed in white straightjacket outfits, similar to those seen in the advertisement, were seen around Capitol Hill earlier this week, including in House offices. They were carrying QR codes with links to a website denouncing political extremism.

Kinzinger retired from Congress last year after voting to impeach Trump in his second impeachment hearing. He also served on the House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection and has been a fervent critic of the former president, as well as extreme views on both sides of the aisle.

On top of building the ad campaign, Kinzinger, who has said he plans to stay in politics, has a book that will be released in October.

“There’s a good chance I run for something again someday,” he said. “But I definitely need to take a good breather and a reset and focus on my wife and kid right now.”