Anti-Trump GOP congressman compares Republican Party to sinking Titanic, calls out McCarthy

Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger (Ill.) on Sunday compared the current state of the Republican Party to the Titanic, the British ship that infamously sank in 1912.

Kinzinger is a vocal critic of former President Donald Trump and was one of the few Republicans who called for Trump to be removed from office after the deadly Capitol riot on Jan. 6. Kinzinger later voted to impeach Trump.

What did he say?

Speaking on CBS' "Face The Nation," Kinzinger denounced the internal fight over Rep. Liz Cheney, the No. 3 House Republican, who is facing a campaign to be unseated from GOP leadership for criticizing Trump and supporting Trump's second impeachment.

"Right now, it's basically the Titanic. We're like, you know, 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, you know, Donald Trump's running around trying to find women's clothing and get on the first lifeboat," Kinzger said.

"And I think there's a few of us that are just saying, 'Guys, this is not good,' not just for the future of the party, but this is not good for the future of this country," he added.

The problem, Kinzinger explained, is the Republican Party has refused "to have an internal look and a full accounting as to what led to Jan. 6."

"We're four months after Jan. 6, an insurrection, something that was unthinkable in this country. And the message from the people that want to get rid of Liz Cheney is to say, 'It's just time to focus on the future and move on,' like this was 10 years ago and we've been obsessed about it since. It's been four months," Kinzinger said.

"And we have so many people, including our leadership in the party, that has not admitted that this is what it is, which was an insurrection led by the president of the United States, well deserving of a full accounting from Republicans," he continued.

Anything else?

Earlier in the interview, Kinzinger addressed House Minority Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who has now voiced support for removing Cheney from House GOP leadership.

Kinzinger essentially called McCarthy a hypocrite.

"It's incredible," Kinzinger said. "Liz Cheney is saying exactly what Kevin McCarthy said the day of the insurrection. She's just consistently been saying it. And a few weeks later, Kevin McCarthy changed to attacking other people."

Over the weekend, McCarthy officially endorsed Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) to replace Cheney as the chairwoman of the House Republican Conference. McCarthy claimed Cheney must be removed for the sake of party unity.

"We want to be united in looking, moving forward," he said.