GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger compared the Republican Party to the Titanic
- Rep. Adam Kinzinger on Sunday compared the GOP to the ill-fated Titanic passenger liner.
- "I think there's a few of us that are just saying 'guys this is not good,'" he said.
- Kinzinger backs Cheney's criticism of former President Trump's conduct on January 6.
GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois on Sunday likened the Republican Party to the Titanic as House Conference Chair Liz Cheney's potential ouster from leadership continues to roil lawmakers.
During an interview on CBS's "Face the Nation," Kinzinger said that the GOP was "in the middle of this slow sink."
Kinzinger, who was one of 10 House Republicans that voted to impeach former President Donald Trump for his role in the January 6 Capitol riot, said that Cheney has been steadfast in her condemnation of the former president inciting insurrectionists since that day. She has also rebuked Trump's continued assertions that the 2020 presidential election won illegitimately by President Joe Biden.
The congressman then contrasted Cheney's words to those of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who he said had changed his story since the day of the riot.
"Liz Cheney is saying exactly what Kevin McCarthy said the day of the insurrection," he said. "She's just been consistently saying it. A few weeks later, Kevin McCarthy changed to attacking other people."
Kinzinger said that the GOP must have "an internal look and a full accounting" of what led to the riot and compared the party to the Titanic, the ill-fated British passenger liner which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean during its maiden voyage in 1912.
"Right now, it's basically the Titanic," he said. "We're in the middle of this slow sink. We have a band playing on the deck telling everybody it's fine. And meanwhile, Donald Trump's running around trying to find women's clothing and get on the first lifeboat."
He added: "I think there's a few of us that are just saying 'guys this is not good,' not just for the future of the party, but this is not good for the future of this country."
Earlier this year, Kinzinger, a vocal critic of Trump, was accused of committing "treason" by several of his own family members after publicly blasting the former president for his conduct.
In a fiery letter, which Kinzinger first discussed in an interview with Insider's Anthony L. Fisher and shared with The New York Times, the family members accused him of abandoning his "Christian principles" and joining "the devil's army," which they referred to as Democrats and the media.
In a second letter, the family members accused Kinzinger, who joined the Air Force in 2003, of working against the country by questioning Trump.