GOP lawmaker says top party leader ignored warnings about violent Jan. 6 events

House Minority Leader in the US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy disregarded warnings from fellow Republican lawmakers that the January 6 riot at the US Capitol were likely to turn violent, according to Illinois Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger.

“A few days before Jan 6, our GOP members had a conference call. I told Kevin that his words and our party’s actions would lead to violence on January 6th. Kevin dismissively responded with, 'ok Adam, operator next question.' And we got violence,” Kinzinger wrote on Twitter Monday.

A few days before Jan 6, our GOP members had a conference call. I told Kevin that his words and our party’s actions would lead to violence on January 6th. Kevin dismissively responded with “ok Adam, operator next question.” And we got violence.

— Adam Kinzinger (@AdamKinzinger) May 10, 2021

In an interview later, Kinzinger repeated his remarks, saying while he wasn't sure McCarthy was capable of controlling the situation only days before the issue took the ugly turn, party leaders continued to close their eyes to warning of more conflict.

“Listen to those of us that predicted what was going to happen on the sixth, because what we're predicting is going to happen right now, if we continue to lie to our voters, is the complete and utter destruction of the Republican Party,” the Republican Representative for Illinois's 16th congressional district said at a virtual event hosted by the National Press Club.

Kinzinger said he was "very disappointed" other House Republican leaders, especially McCarthy and Minority Whip Steve Scalise "decided that winning the next election and winning the majority was more important than a clear-eyed recognition of what happened on January 6."

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He further said that he considered pursuing a vote of no confidence against McCarthy after the Jan. 6 insurrection, but focused his efforts on former President Donald Trump's second impeachment.

“He basically made the decision when he went to Mar-a-Lago that he was not going to be the leader of the Republican Party. He had the opportunity after January 6 to, with Mitch McConnell, to take the reins of the Republican Party and be the leader, and he handed those reins to Trump and revived him,” Kinzinger said.

The lawmaker's comments come as House US Republicans have joined forces to expel the House Republican Conference chair and the Representative for Wyoming, Liz Cheney, for her scathing criticism of former US President Donald Trump.

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Much to the chagrin of her fellow Republicans, she has continued to criticize Trump for repeating claims of his election loss to Biden due to fraud, while calling on party members to reject his claims.

McCarthy has told Republicans to expect a vote to oust Cheney from leadership on Wednesday.

Kinzinger, who supported Trump's second impeachment over riot at the US Capitol early this year, is among a minority of Republican politicians resisting the former US President’s control over the party.

“Since I got elected in 2010, what I've started to see is a party that stuck to its policies but began to be infected by, in essence, really kind of grievance-driven politics. It'll mask itself as conservatism. The truth is, I'm way more conservative than probably some of my folks out there who think I'm a (Republican in name only),” Kinzinger said.

Like most GOP lawmakers who have chosen not to follow their party line on Trump's conspiracy theories, Kinzinger has faced harsh reactions from his fellow Republicans. 

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