By and large, Republican lawmakers have continued to embrace former President Donald Trump's rhetoric and policies, even after his lies about the 2020 election prompted a mob of pro-Trump extremists to storm the United States Capitol in a deadly failed insurrection.
Two notable exceptions to this are Representatives Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, both of whom are currently serving on the House Select Committee investigating the insurrection.
While both have largely voted in line with Trump on policy, Cheney and Kinzinger have been outspoken critics of the former President, especially after the Capitol Riots, when they voted to impeach him for a second time.
With Trump beloved by the GOP, exacerbated by the party's continued shift to the right, the representatives' critiques have made them personae non gratae in the Republican party.
Far-right Congresswoman and prominent conspiracy theorist Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia called for them to be expelled from the GOP conference in a Thursday tweet.
Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger must be thrown out of the GOP conference!https://twitter.com/disclosetv/status/1433389735796428804\u00a0\u2026— Marjorie Taylor Greene \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@Marjorie Taylor Greene \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1630588259
Greene herself was expelled from committee assignments by her colleagues earlier this year, after her prior support for deranged conspiracy theories and even the execution of members of Congress resurfaced.
Among these conspiracy theories was the absurd belief that devastating wildfires in California were caused by lasers operated by the wealthy Rothschild family that were beamed from space. The conspiracy has widely been paraphrased as "Jewish space lasers."
Kinzinger alluded to this belief in his response to Greene's tweet.
Evidently in your mind the conference is more comfortable with \u201cmaybe bloodshed\u201d and Jewish space lazers? We will see!\n\nOh ya the Vaccine works too.https://twitter.com/mtgreenee/status/1433417171611365378\u00a0\u2026— Adam Kinzinger (@Adam Kinzinger) 1630589171
Kinzinger also seemed to allude to comments Greene made in late January of this year, in which she said:
"If this generation doesn't stand up and defend freedom, it's gone, and once it's gone, freedom doesn't come back by itself. The only way you get your freedoms back is it's earned with the price of blood."
But sadly, that isn't the only time Republicans have suggested bloodshed to combat a functional democracy.
Kinzinger could've been referring to more recent comments from far-right Congressman Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina, who said:
"The things that we are wanting to fight for, it doesn't matter if our votes don't count. Because, you know, if our election systems continue to be rigged and continue to be stolen, then it's going to lead to one place — and it's bloodshed."
Either way, people agreed that the GOP's allegiance to violent fascism and utter delusion was undeniable.
Actually, that\u2019s seems to be the case.— Ron Filipkowski (@Ron Filipkowski) 1630594070
Unfortunately, an accurate assessment of current GQP.— MaterialMatt - Reliving the Cataline Conspiracy (@MaterialMatt - Reliving the Cataline Conspiracy) 1630594298
I admire you for fighting for the party, but I think it\u2019s a losing battle. It\u2019s the Trump Party now.— Lemke's Double-Play Partner \ud83d\udc99 (@Lemke's Double-Play Partner \ud83d\udc99) 1630590390
Some commended Kinzinger for his retort.
@AdamKinzinger for the win.https://twitter.com/AdamKinzinger/status/1433420994237108229\u00a0\u2026— Jon Quixote de la Tejas (@Jon Quixote de la Tejas) 1630605240
I will support Adam every day over the crazy person. Go Adam!!https://twitter.com/adamkinzinger/status/1433420994237108229\u00a0\u2026— David Case \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@David Case \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1630602880
And so it has begun, the @January6thCmte has officially got the traitors in the republican party melting down. Thank you @AdamKinzinger for having integrityhttps://twitter.com/AdamKinzinger/status/1433420994237108229\u00a0\u2026— Proud Vet \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf2\ud83d\ude37\ud83d\udc89 (@Proud Vet \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf2\ud83d\ude37\ud83d\udc89) 1630598972
Meanwhile, Greene's tweet was skewered by social media users.
You @mtgreenee need to be thrown out of Congress.https://twitter.com/mtgreenee/status/1433417171611365378\u00a0\u2026— GoodTrouble (@GoodTrouble) 1630605177
MTG is a fascist pig and so are you if you support her.https://twitter.com/mtgreenee/status/1433417171611365378\u00a0\u2026— We Saved Democracy (for now) !! \ud83d\ude37 \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 \ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf0a \ud83c\udf08 \ud83c\udf0d\ud83c\udf9e\ufe0f (@We Saved Democracy (for now) !! \ud83d\ude37 \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 \ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf0a \ud83c\udf08 \ud83c\udf0d\ud83c\udf9e\ufe0f) 1630598015
She's trying to cancel Dick Cheney's daughter because she earnestly believes she's a lib. As a rule Karen's are all vapid, but this is truly impressive.https://twitter.com/mtgreenee/status/1433417171611365378\u00a0\u2026— Robert Caruso (@Robert Caruso) 1630595187
Greene has yet to respond to Kinzinger.
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