Former Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger speaks at Millikin University during a September appearance. In a Chronicle Media interview, Kinzinger said that despite potential political fallout, it was an easy decision for him to serve on the panel that probed the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. “Once the rumors surfaced that I could be appointed, I was not going to face this historic moment and not act,” he said. (Photo by Michael Jouanneau)

Former U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger does not know where he fits in politically these days.

“If I ran as a Democrat, I’m too conservative. In the current GOP, I am not welcome,” he said. “I am not going to change who I am.”

“I see myself as a Republican of five or 10 years ago,” said Kinzinger, who served as a Republican congressman representing DeKalb, Winnebago, McHenry, Tazewell, Woodford and Peoria counties for 12 years. “My viewpoints haven’t change, but the party has left me.

“The big question is would the Democrats welcome me. I am not with them on every position. I still consider myself a Republican, but the party as it is now, is nothing I believe in.”

Kinzinger, who now lives in Texas, represented Illinois’ 11th and then 16th Congressional districts from 2011-22. His work on the panel that probed the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol made him a likely Republican primary target.

Despite the potential political backlash, Kinzinger said it was an easy decision to serve on the panel.

“Once the rumors surfaced that I could be appointed, I was not going to face this historic moment and not act,” he said in a Chronicle Media interview. “I have a kid who’s 3 years old now. How am I going to teach him to do the right thing if I was not willing to do the right thing? I knew it would be costly politically, but I had a lot of peace about it.”

The former congressman said the thing that bothers him most in the aftermath of serving on the panel is that fewer and fewer politicians in Washington, D.C. do the right thing and instead opt for office retention.

“I had been in Congress for 12 years. I was not sure I was going to run again anyway,” Kinzinger added about being part of the Jan. 6 investigation. “What bothers me is the incentive structure to go to D.C. and do the right thing is gone. I see it over and over again.”

Kinzinger on political courage: “There has to be at least a vague red line that you will not cross.” (Photo by Michael Jouanneau)

He pointed to North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis as an example. When a senator questioned U.S. Attorney General nominee Pam Bondi about the president’s potential pardoning of violent Capitol offenders, Tillis spoke up, saying “how rude” the question was because Donald Trump would not pardon the violent offenders, according to Kinznger.

“Since Trump pardoned the violent offenders, we’ve heard nothing from Tillis,” Kinzinger said. “He should be out there screaming how wrong that was.

“The incentive structure is a struggle, but I will continue to fight. You fight; you struggle. It’s how our country has survived. There has to be at least a vague red line that you will not cross. It’s cool to be a congressman, but it’s not worth losing your soul over.”

Regarding the preemptive pardon given to him and other Jan. 6 panel members, Kinzinger said he appreciated the gesture, but didn’t want it.

“My hope was to outright reject it,” he said of the pardon. “I understand and appreciate the sentiment, but if someone wants to come after me for doing my constitutional job, I welcome the fight.”

“My concern is that a pardon is for breaking the law,” Kinzinger added. “I get the actions of President Biden. President Trump has made it clear that he wants to come after the people who came after him. My view is if he wants to fight, we’re the ones fighting on solid ground.”

Kinzinger said he was not surprised when Trump pardoned the Jan. 6 insurrectionists, as the president had said he was going to do it.

“But when he did pardon them, it was a really dark day for me personally,” said the former lieutenant colonel of the Air National Guard. “It was not that he pardoned people who broke the law, it was that he said, ‘If you commit violence on my behalf, I’ve got your back.’”

He saw Trump’s election to a second term as both a blessing and a curse.

“We have been so comfortable. We have not had to worry for 20 years about an outside threat,” Kinzinger said. “We have a man in office who keeps breaking the law, but does a good job of creating a culture war.

Kinzinger

“His job of categorizing the Woke Left has been effective. Right now, we as a country are more interested in fighting each other than in the realm of ideas. I think it may take an existential crisis to bring us back together as a country. We had World Wars I and II, communism and terror attacks, but we do not have an enemy or opponent now.”

He wrote “Renegade: Defending Democracy and Liberty in Our Divided Country” in 2023. The book made the New York Times Bestseller List.

“I did not want to write it. I don’t love writing, but it was cathartic. I did get some feelings out,” Kinzinger said. “I took a look back at my life and career, and what happened to the Republican Party. I used it as a microcosm of what happened to the country.”

At 46 years old, Kinzinger, who spoke at the Democratic National Convention and gives political insights on CNN, said another political run is not out of the question.

“It would have to be the right opportunity and somewhere I thought I could make a difference,” he said. “I have a lot of fight left in me.

“I am open to an opportunity, absolutely, but I am not going to jump at something crazy.”

kbeese@chronicleillinois.com