By Scott Wong, Gabe Gutiérrez and Daniel Arkin — NBCNews
Adam Kinzinger, a former Republican representative from Illinois who harshly criticized Donald Trump after the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, on Wednesday endorsed Democrat Joe Biden in the battle for the White House, calling the former president a “direct threat to all fundamental American values.”
Kinzinger’s endorsement came a day before Biden and Trump face off in Atlanta, Georgia, in their first presidential debate. Biden’s campaign hopes the support will help him win over moderate Republicans who doubt Trump.
Kinzinger recounted in a video that his life has been guided by the belief that the United States is a beacon of freedom: “So, while I certainly don’t agree with the president, Joe Biden, on everything, and I never thought he would be endorsing to a Democrat for office, I know he will always protect what makes America the best country in the world: our democracy.”
“Donald Trump poses a direct threat to all core American values,” Kinzinger continued, “he doesn’t care about our country. He doesn’t care about you. He only cares about himself, and he will harm anyone or anything in pursuit of power.”
In response to Kinzinger, Biden issued a message on his X social media account: “This is what putting your country before your party looks like. I appreciate your support, Adam.”
Asked for comment on Kinzinger’s endorsement of Biden, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung responded: “Who is Adam Kinzinger? Isn’t he the cry baby?”
Following the assault on the Capitol, Kinzinger was one of 10 House Republicans who voted in favor of a impeachment Trump for incitement of insurrection, the second trial of its kind against the former president. She also voted to create the committee to investigate the attack and served on the panel alongside former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., another prominent conservative highly critical of the former president.
Kinzinger, an Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran who received death threats for serving on the Jan. 6 panel, did not seek re-election to the House in 2022.
Earlier this year, Trump attacked Kinzinger and Cheney as “two pitiful Republicans” and “far worse than any Democrat who ever lived.”
In his video on Wednesday, Kinzinger implicated Trump in the Jan. 6 assault, speaking about images of violence at the Capitol that day. “Trump attacked the foundation of this nation, encouraging a violent mob of his supporters to march on the Capitol to prevent the peaceful transition of power,” he said.
[Trump admite que quiso ir al Capitolio el 6 de enero durante el asalto de sus partidarios]
“Now, it has become even more dangerous. He has asked for the termination of the Constitution. He wants to be a dictator from day one, in fact he has said so. And he continues to fan the flames of violence,” he said.
“There is too much at stake to stay on the sidelines,” he concluded.
“To all Americans of all political parties and none, I say: now is not the time to silently watch as Trump threatens the future of America,” Kinzinger said, “it is the time to unite behind Joe Biden , and get Donald Trump off the stage once and for all.”
Kinzinger is the only prominent Republican to have formally endorsed Biden. Other notable Republicans who have broken with Trump and warned of the dangers of a second term have not endorsed the Democratic president. Among them are Cheney; former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who is running for a Senate seat this fall; and the couple who ran together on the GOP ticket in 2012, retired Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, and former House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis.
The Biden-Harris campaign indicated it hopes Kinzinger’s endorsement will help convince anti-Trump Republicans that they “have a home” with Biden. The endorsement came weeks after Biden’s campaign named Kinzinger’s former chief of staff, Austin Weatherford, to lead the president’s efforts to reach votes on the Republican side.
“Congressman Kinzinger represents the countless Americans that Donald Trump’s Republican Party has left behind. “These Americans have a home in President Biden’s coalition, and our campaign knows that we have to show up and earn their support,” Biden’s campaign manager, Julie Chávez Rodríguez, said in a statement.
“Congressman Kinzinger’s endorsement not only makes our campaign stronger — it will better equip us to win the hearts and minds of voters committed to fighting for the future of our democracy and stopping Donald Trump.”
