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Even after he handily lost the election, even after he inspired a failed coup, even after he was banned by much of social media, Trump still, somehow, inexplicably rules the Republican party. GOP lawmakers continue to swear fealty to the disgraced 45th American president, and anyone who doesn’t — such as high-ranking representative Liz Cheney — is now in trouble of losing power. And then there’s Illinois representative Adam Kinzinger, who seems to be the only one in the party who truly has zero Fs to give.

Kinzinger was the first Republican lawmaker to agree with Democrats that they should invoke the 25th amendment after the aborted but deadly January 6 insurrection. It even cost him the love of some family members. But he’s soldiered on, and on Sunday he went on Face the Nation to warn that the party he’s long called his own that, should they continue to be in thrall to a former commander-in-chief who now lives in a resort with strangers, then they’re in deep, deep doo-doo.

The representative was asked about Cheney, who it looks may loser her number three position among House Republicans, just for being critical of a dangerous president who’s now a blogger. He wasn’t going along with his colleagues. He pointed out that what she’s saying — that he clearly lost an election, that he inspired a deadly mob, etc. — was “exactly” what House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said the day of the insurrection.

“She’s just been consistently saying it,” he sad. “And a few weeks later, Kevin McCarthy changed to attacking other people.” He then said the party really needs to take an honest look at what led to the events of January 6. But that’s not happening.

“Right now, it’s basically the Titanic. “We’re in the middle of this slow sink. We have a band playing on the deck, telling everybody it’s fine, and meanwhile, as I’ve said, Donald Trump’s running around, trying to find women’s clothing and get on the first lifeboat.”

Kinzinger added that it’s not good, “not only for the future of the party,” but also “for the future of this country.” The message from those who wish to oust Cheney from her position of power, he said, is “it’s just time to focus on the future and move on, like this was 10 years ago and we’ve been obsessed over it since. It’s been four months, and we have so many people, including our leadership in this party, who have not admitted that this is what it is — that this was an insurrection led by the president of the United States, well deserving of a full accounting from Republicans.”

In any case, half of Republicans still believe in what has been dubbed “The Big Lie” — that the election was somehow stolen from Trump, even though nothing approaching hard evidence has ever been provided. And so the fun times persist.

(Via Insider)