Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) expressed fresh frustration at his fellow Republicans on Wednesday in response to newly released video of then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi the day after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, showing the California Democrat saying former President Trump has to “pay a price.”
When asked to respond to footage showing Pelosi saying the National Guard should have been called earlier on the day of the riot, Kinzinger said the video evoked fresh memories of that day.
“She was reacting how we all did, and it just kind of takes me back to that and makes me furious that my party decided to — to memory-holed that whole day,” Kinzinger said on “CNN News Central” to anchor Sara Sidner.
The footage features Pelosi in scenes in the early morning the day after the Capitol riot, in which she states Trump has to “pay a price” when it comes to “what he did to the Capitol and to the country today.”
Kinzinger downplayed conservative criticism that Pelosi was more focused on Trump than securing the Capitol that day.
“The focus of all of Congress on that day was getting justice for what happened,” Kinzinger said of the day after the riot.
Kinzinger was a member of the House select committee that investigated the riot at the Capitol, and was one of 10 Republicans in the House to vote to impeach Trump in its wake.
Even after leaving office, he has remained a prominent anti-Trump Republican and spoke at the Democratic National Convention in a prime-time slot last Thursday, before Vice President Harris took the stage.
“The Republican Party is no longer conservative,” Kinzinger said in his convention speech. “It has switched its allegiance from the principles that gave it purpose to a man whose only purpose is himself.”
Kinzinger also said in the speech that Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, “is a weak man pretending to be strong.”
A spokesperson for the Republican National Committee criticized the media for its coverage of Kinzinger.
“The media should stop treating DNC speaker and Kamala surrogate Adam Kinzinger as a credible voice for the Republican Party,” Republican National Committee spokesperson Anna Kelly said in an email to The Hill.
Updated at 3:06 p.m. ET
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