Name: Adam Kinzinger’s Family Calls Him a “Disappointment to God” for Standing Up to Trump
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Adam Kinzinger’s Family Calls Him a “Disappointment to God” for Standing Up to Trump

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Among the harshest critics of Representative Adam Kinzinger’s public break with Donald Trump are his own family members, based on a handwritten that the Illinois Republican received from 11 relatives after calling for Trump’s removal over the Capitol riot last month. “Oh my, what a disappointment you are to us and to God!” they wrote. “You have embarrassed the Kinzinger family name!” Written by Kinzinger’s cousin Karen Otto and signed by several others, some of whom recently disowned Kinzinger, the New York Times , the two-page letter shows the extent to which disavowing Trump is perceived as a personal betrayal among Republicans—in this case quite literally. In addition to the letter sent via certified mail to Kinzinger’s father so as to guarantee the congressman saw it, Otto reportedly sent copies to Republicans across Illinois. “I wanted Adam to be shunned,” she told the Times.The letter, complete with Biblical citations, enumerated grievances, and gratuitous exclamation points, criticized the six-term congressman for going “against your Christian principles and [joining] the ‘devil’s army’ (Democrats and the fake news media).” In an apparent effort to illustrate how gravely Kinzinger had erred, the letter rattled off a of right-wing media figures whose respect he had lost, including Lou Dobbs, Sean Hannity, Greg Kelly, and Rush Limbaugh. Kinzinger told the Times that the letter-writers in his family are beset by “brainwashing” from conservative churches and that while he “[holds] nothing against them,” he has “zero desire” to “reach out and repair that.” He also tweeted about the letter on Sunday:This content can also be viewed on the site it from.Kinzinger is one of the GOP’s most outspoken Trump critics and was one of just three Republicans who voted both to impeach Trump and strip Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the conspiracy-addled freshman from Georgia, of her committee assignments. He has been vocal about the need to remake the party post-Trump and has used media outlets to try and give shape to his vision—one laid out in a recent PAC video that the Times describes as proposing “something resembling an idealized version of George W. Bush’s party.” Such a restoration involves getting rid of the total fealty that defined the last four years and has leeched into the post-Trump era.&nbsp;In making his case as the anti-Trump Republican, Kinzinger has, unsurprisingly, angered voters and officials, including those in his district. “If you want to vote as a Democrat, vote as a Democrat,” Richard Reinhardt, a 63-year-old retired mechanical engineer, told the Times. “Otherwise, if you’re a Republican, then support our president.” John McGlasson, the committee member who represents Kinzinger’s district, said he had been “insulting with his comments” since January 6. According to the Times, Kinzinger is still weighing whether he will change his party affiliation and said he’ll know by the end of the summer if leaving the GOP is necessary—but said he’s “going to fight like hell to save it first.”The congressman is not the only member of his party facing blowback for turning against Trump following the Capitol Hill riot. Six of the seven GOP senators who voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial on a charge of inciting the Capitol attack are now being punished for it at home, Business Insider . Among them is Louisiana’s Bill Cassidy, who was censured by the Louisiana Republican party’s Executive Committee in a unanimous vote on Saturday, hours after the trial concluded. “Our Constitution and our country is more important than any one person. I voted to convict President Trump because he is guilty,” Cassidy, who recently won reelection for a six-year term, in a statement Saturday. Earlier in the week, before Cassidy had even voted to convict, the Republican Party of East Baton Rouge Parish, his hometown chapter, to censure him—merely for allowing the impeachment trial against Trump to move forward.More Great Stories From Vanity Fair&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;— Embedding With Pentagon Leadership in Trump’s — Donald From Women—And Then From America Itself— How Trump’s COVID Chaos Drowned the FDA in — Inside of Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump— After Wrecking the Country, Vacation Plans— Can Trump’s Be Deprogrammed?&nbsp;— Trump Makes an Exit With His — From the Archive: How Donald Trump Against Him— Not a subscriber? to receive full access to VF.com and the complete online archive now.Most Popular is a staff writer at Vanity Fair’s Hive, where she writes about media and politics. She was previously a fact-checker at New York magazine. Find her on or at .The freshest-and most essential-updates from Washington, Wall Street, and Silicon Valley.

Among the harshest critics of Representative Adam Kinzinger’s public break with Donald Trump are his own family members, based on a handwritten that the Illinois Republican received from 11 relatives after calling for Trump’s removal over the Capitol riot last month. “Oh my, what a disappointment you are to us and to God!” they wrote. “You have embarrassed the Kinzinger family name!” Written by Kinzinger’s cousin Karen Otto and signed by several others, some of whom recently disowned Kinzinger, the New York Times , the two-page letter shows the extent to which disavowing Trump is perceived...

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Charlotte Klein

Vanity Fair is a monthly magazine of popular culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast in the United States.  The first version of Vanity Fair was published from 1913 to 1936. The imprint was revived in 1983 and currently includes five international editions of the magazine. As of 2018, the Editor-in-Chief is Radhika Jones.

Adam Kinzinger’s Family Calls Him a “Disappointment to God” for Standing Up to Trump

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