Former Speaker Ryan Raising Funds For Trump Critic Kinzinger

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois is one of former President Donald Trump's most outspoken critics in the Republican Party, and Trump supporters would love to remove him from Congress via a GOP primary in the 2022 midterms. But the conservative congressman has some allies on the right, including former House Speaker Paul Ryan — who according to Politico's Shia Kapos, will head a fundraiser for Kinzinger this Monday, May 24.

Kapos explains, "It's a decisive move against ex-President Donald Trump, who has set his sights on Republicans who voted to impeach him. Kinzinger is one of 10 Republicans who joined Democrats to impeach Trump for his role in the January 6 attack on the Capitol. The Illinois Republican has continued to carry the anti-Trump mantle, and it's no surprise that Ryan would back Kinzinger. Ryan, who's had a long-running feud with Trump, criticized Republicans who wouldn't certify the Electoral College results that validated Joe Biden's election as president."

Kinzinger has been a major thorn in Trump's side. Following the 2020 presidential election, Kinzinger called out Trump's debunked claims of widespread voter fraud as total nonsense and acknowledged Joe Biden as president-elect. And after the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol Building, Kinzinger and Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming were among the minority of House Republicans who championed Trump's impeachment.

In 2018, Ryan — who was House speaker at the time and had been Mitt Romney's running mate in the 2012 presidential election — announced that he would not be seeking reelection. Ryan said that he wanted to spend more time with his family, but it was obvious that he was disenchanted with Trumpism and believed that the 2018 midterms would be bad for Republicans.