On the morning of Wednesday, May 12, House Republicans voted to remove Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming from her role as Conference Chair, the third highest-ranking GOP position in the chamber.
The reason for her removal was easy to identify. In recent weeks, Cheney has become a vocal critic of Donald Trump's "big lie" the election was stolen from him.
Although Cheney is standing up for the easily demonstrable truth, many Republicans, seeing Trump's continued popularity among their base even after being voted out of office, have taken to parroting the former President's lies.
One of the earliest Republicans to abandon the facts in favor of Trump's delusional narrative was Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida, who attempted to have Cheney voted out of her position all the way back in February. Coming just shortly after the January 6 insurrection, many Republicans were still critical of President Trump and his vote failed by a wide margin.
His stunt was made fun of at the time by Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois.
No we voted. You were just wrong by like, a huuuuuge margin.https://twitter.com/LukeTBall/status/1357072554691805187\u00a0\u2026— Adam Kinzinger (@Adam Kinzinger) 1612405460
Of course, all Gaetz had to do was wait a few months.
After the shock of Trump's attempted coup faded into history, many Republicans have begun to wholeheartedly support him once again.
Besides, even following the insurrection, many of these Republicans still voted to throw out the 2020 election results which investigations have shown to be perfectly legitimate.
After Cheney was voted out of her leadership position, Gaetz returned to Kinzinger's burn to throw some well-timed shade.
Tweets that don\u2019t age well https://twitter.com/repkinzinger/status/1357152981335105537\u00a0\u2026— Matt Gaetz (@Matt Gaetz) 1620784214
However, Kinzinger wasn't going to let Gaetz get the last word.
Referencing the investigations into Gaetz's alleged sex trafficking of a minor (a charge that has not affected his standing within Republican leadership), Kinzinger gave the Florida Republican some free advice.
I\u2019d stay away from \u201caging well\u201d tweets— Adam Kinzinger (@Adam Kinzinger) 1620784915
Gaetzgate continues with self incriminating tweets— Molly Jong-Fast\ud83c\udfe1 (@Molly Jong-Fast\ud83c\udfe1) 1620785679
Twitter couldn't stop laughing at Kinzinger's perfect zinger.
Adam Kinzinger patiently explaining things to Matt Gaetzpic.twitter.com/mZJjqqUJtK— Mark R. Yzaguirre (@Mark R. Yzaguirre) 1620785419
Wow that\u2019s some ratio, Matt. Guess people really like Adam more than you.pic.twitter.com/PaFUJbI68w— SonnyinSeattle (@SonnyinSeattle) 1620803923
So now that you've won Twitter for life, what's next on your plate Rep. Kinzinger?— Joshua Gale (@Joshua Gale) 1620786015
Kinzinger has been a vocal Trump critic for some time.
He was one of the 10 Republicans who crossed party lines to vote for the former President's impeachment following the January 6 insurrection.
18 for this— George Conway (@George Conway) 1620798692
Matt's PR team right now: it's probably best if we just delete your twitter account— Dad Jokes Panda (@Dad Jokes Panda) 1620785456
God damn.— Brian Tyler Cohen (@Brian Tyler Cohen) 1620785989
Cheney's removal from GOP leadership is a very ominous event in American democracy.
It indicates in the mainstream Republican party, there's no place for politicians who are willing to accept a legitimate election loss.
You walked forehead first into that one Matty-boy— Tom Schaffer (@Tom Schaffer) 1620785455
True @AdamKinzinger pic.twitter.com/MeJBsgA7ma— medit8now (@medit8now) 1620785146
At least we got this unforgettable burn out of the whole situation.
Kinzinger has been on fire lately— Hugo Lowell (@Hugo Lowell) 1620785260
Pretty sure we just witnessed a murder— Conrad Close (@Conrad Close) 1620785328
Although standing up for the obvious, verified truth is a pretty low bar to clear, it seems there are very few Republicans who are willing to do it.
But Adam Kinzinger is one of them.
