Fellow Republicans to vote for Harris

Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger tries to convince his fellow Republicans to vote for Harris

“Donald Trump is a weak man pretending to be strong."

Shia Kapos

Adam Kinzinger, a Republican former representative from Illinois and a chief antagonist of Donald Trump, didn’t just endorse Kamala Harris for president, he blasted the former president in terms stronger than any of the Democrats who have taken the stage tonight.

“Donald Trump is a weak man pretending to be strong. He is a small man pretending to be big. He's a faithless man pretending to be righteous. He's a perpetrator who can't stop playing the victim. He puts on quite a show, but there is no real strength there,” said Kinzinger, who served on the committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and has spoken out against Trump’s involvement in the uprising.

Kinzinger, a veteran and self-described conservative, said, “I believe true strength lies in defending the vulnerable. It's in protecting your family. It's in standing up for our Constitution and our democracy that that is the soul of being a conservative. It used to be the soul of being a Republican, but Donald Trump has suffocated the soul of the Republican Party.”

The crowd ate it up, though Kinzinger got even bigger cheers in his bipartisanship language. “I’ve learned something about the Democratic Party. And I want to let my fellow Republicans in on a secret. The Democrats are as patriotic as us.”

Kinzinger was a popular Republican who served for 12 years in Congress before he was wedged out by the latest redistricting map, which was crafted by the Democratic-controlled state legislature.

He wrapped up his address to Democrats with a pitch for Harris, saying she shares Kinzinger’s “allegiance to the rule of law, the Constitution and democracy, and she is dedicated to upholding all three in service to our country.”

Kinzinger added: “Whatever policies we disagree on, pale in comparison with those fundamental matters of principle, of decency and of fidelity to this nation.”