Kinzinger says he wouldn’t support McCarthy as Speaker

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) said Tuesday that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is not fit to serve as Speaker if Republicans take back the majority in the lower chamber in next year’s midterm elections. 

“I certainly wouldn’t support him if it were today,” Kinzinger said during a virtual event with Politico. “This country deserves people who are going to do tough things and tell the truth.” 

Kinzinger, a member of the Air Force, also compared standing up to his party’s leadership in Congress to serving in foreign wars.

He said it would be easy for other anti-Trump Republicans like Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) to “go along with the party line and just hide a little bit,” but added, “We have to be able to do tough things ourselves.”

Cheney would be his pick to lead the Republican conference, Kinzinger said. 

The Hill reported earlier this month Kinzinger was plotting to force a vote of no confidence against McCarthy after a mob of former President Trump’s supporters attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6. 

Cheney was ousted from her leadership spot in the House GOP after she was critical of Trump, who is supported by a vast majority of Republicans in the lower chamber. 

Earlier during Tuesday’s event, Kinzinger called for Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) to be removed from the GOP conference following controversial comments she made comparing mask mandates to the Holocaust. 

“You can’t stop somebody from calling themselves a Republican or declaring themselves a Republican,” Kinzinger said. “But what we can do as a party is take a stand and say you don’t belong in our conference. That’s what I think we should do. I think we should kick her out of the conference, prevent her from coming to conference meetings, benefiting from conference materials.”