Illinois Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger called President Donald Trump’s behavior “erratic” toward the end of his term, adding, “I think he’s more focused on grievances than dealing strongly.”
In a Monday interview on the MSNBC program Andrea Mitchell ReportsAsked Mitchell Kinzinger about comments he made on CNN on Sunday, citing Trump’s reasons why he should veto the National Defense Authority (NDAA) “nonsense”.
Kinzinger publicly criticized the president for refusing until the last minute to sign the latest stimulus bill on COVID-19. The legislature also called Trump and Republicans’ attempts to overthrow the election a “scam.”
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Kinzinger told Mitchell that Trump has made the last weeks of his presidency difficult for congressional Republicans. “It was definitely erratic at the end here,” he said of the president’s behavior. “I think he’s more focused on grievances than ending strong.”
“The NDAA veto on it makes no sense, but hopefully we will replace it,” Kinzinger continued.
Last Wednesday, Trump vetoed the bill, in part because it does not repeal section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, a law that protects social media companies from liability for user-shared posts.
Trump has long campaigned for the repeal of the law, saying the failure to repeal it “facilitates the dissemination of foreign disinformation online.” People of freedom of speech, however, said the repeal of Article 230 would force social media companies to censor all online speech on a large scale under the threat of lawsuits.
“Section 230, if you have a real problem with Section 230, that’s fine, but the defense bill is not the place to deal with it. It’s through the Committee on Energy and Trade and others,” Kinzinger said. told Mitchell. “We have 20 days left, we need to do what’s right.”
Congress is expected to veto the president’s veto, as it has already passed the NDAA with a veto-stable majority.
Trump on Monday morning signed the latest COVID-19 stimulus bill after days in which he expressed doubts whether he would do it or not. Trump described the stimulus package in a video message last Tuesday as a “disgrace” and demanded $ 2,000 checks for every American adult. Democrats later criticized the president, saying they also wanted $ 2,000 checks for all adults, just to negotiate the proposal through Republican Congressmen.
In the past, Kinzinger has called Trump and Republican fundraising efforts to change the outcome of the election a ‘fraudulent scam’.
“It’s a scam,” he said. “It’s going to disappoint people who believe this election was stolen and think it’s an opportunity to change it.”
The Trump campaign has repeatedly called for donations to Trump’s ‘Official Election Fund’ for increasing legal challenges to block the vote in several key swing states that voted for President-elect Joe Biden.
However, legal language in Trump’s requests specifies that any donations under $ 8,000 to the benefit of the Republican National Committee or ‘Save America’, a Trump leadership PAC (political action committee), and not legitimate attempts to contest the election, according to Reuters.
“Instead of being disappointed with the people who led them to this fraudulent scam,” Kinzinger said, “they will somehow try to convince these people that it is the RINOs (Republicans by name only) in the Congress was, or something like that, and not the Constitution that preceded it in the first place. ‘
Newsweek contact Kinzinger for further comment.