Adam Kinzinger Turns GOP Fire on 'RINO' Marjorie Taylor Greene After Matt Gaetz Clash
Illinois Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger slammed his Georgia colleague Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in light of reports on her past conspiracy theory-laden social media presence, exposing a widening rift within GOP ranks.
In a widely-shared Wednesday tweet, Kinzinger retweeted a CNN investigation on Greene's online behavior, adding his own comment outright rejecting the congresswoman's standing in the Republican party.
"She is not a Republican," wrote Kinzinger. "There are many who claim the title of Republican and have nothing in common with our core values. They are RINOS. She is a RINO."
"RINO" is a pejorative term that stands for Republican In Name Only.
Kinzinger has in past months emerged as one of former president Donald Trump's few critics within the Republican party.
The congressman and military veteran stood apart from many of his colleagues by rebuking 2020 election fraud claims and holding Trump responsible for the Capitol insurrection.
During the president's last days in office, Kinzinger was one of 10 GOP members that voted to impeach Trump.
The congressman also expressed support for House GOP Conference Chair Liz Cheney as she faced calls to resign after voting for Trump's impeachment. After pro-Trump Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz expressed support for Cheney's resignation on Twitter, Kinzinger responded: "This is GOP cancel culture."
In a Monday interview with CNN, the congressman said the GOP had the choice of remaining the "party of Trump", adding the party was "in a battle".
"Are we aspirational or are we a party that feeds on fear and division?" he asked.
The CNN report shared by Kinzinger unraveled Greene's past endorsement of assassinations and executions of prominent democrats—such as former president Barack Obama, ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi—revealed by interactions with commenters on her Facebook page in 2018 and 2019.
Greene responded to CNN's report by claiming she has had "teams of people manage" her pages. "Many posts have been liked," she said in a statement. "Many posts have been shared. Some did not share my views."
She went on to accuse "the Democrats and their spokesmen in the Fake News Media" of attacking her because she represents "a threat to their goal of Socialism."
On Tuesday, watchdog organization Media Matters for America (MMFA) reported Greene had, in a Facebook comment, supported a conspiracy theory known as "Frazzledrip".
The baseless conspiracy claims the existence of a video in which Hillary Clinton and her aide Huma Abedin sexually assault and kill a young girl, then slice her face off and wear it as part of a Satanic ritual.
Greene, a staunch supporter of Trump, is known to have aligned herself with far-right conspiracy theories such as QAnon and PizzaGate.
Last week, MMFA revealed a 2018 Facebook post by Greene, in which she claimed Pelosi wanted another school shooting to take place so as to introduce stricter gun control.
The group had previously publicized Greene endorsing comments claiming mass shootings at Florida's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and Connecticut's Sandy Hook Elementary School—which respectively occurred in 2018 and 2012—to be false flags.
Despite several of her congressional colleagues backing off on election fraud claims following the Capitol attack, Greene has filed impeachment articles against President Biden a day after his inauguration.
Newsweek has asked Greene for comment.
