Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), whose family members attacked him for impeaching President Donald Trump in a furious letter that got published by the New York Times last week, argued on Monday night that there’s at least one silver lining to getting dragged by your pro-Trump relatives in public.
“I’m glad the letter came out because I think that people need to see it,” Kinzinger told CNN. “If you haven’t experienced that division in your family, this is the best example of it.”
The screed came from his father’s cousins, one of whom sent it to “so many people out of so much anger” that eventually it became public, according to the Republican lawmaker.
Kinzinger said that while he has “nothing against” his relatives, he doesn’t feel compelled to fix his relationship with them.
“Maybe someday I’ll have to look back and do some more forgiveness in my heart, but I don’t feel it right now,” he told CNN. “I just have no desire, really, to reach out and repair it. That’s up to them.”
However, “the vast majority of my family, even if they disagree with me, they’re good family members,” Kinzinger said.
The congressman’s relatives called him a “disappointment” to “us and to God” in the letter after he voted to impeach Trump for inciting the deadly riot at the Capitol last month.
“We were once so proud of your accomplishments! Instead, you go against your Christian principals [sic] and join the ‘devil’s army’ (Democrats and the fake news media),” they wrote.
Watch Kinzinger below:
Kinzinger says he's "glad" the angry letter from his family over Trump impeachment came out because "people need to see" how families get divided over politics. pic.twitter.com/Y5MdKBjdhz
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) February 23, 2021
