Anna Moneymaker
Former Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger didn’t mince words this week while describing newly minted Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, saying it was merely a “fact” that his ex-boss is a “piece of shit.”
Kinzinger, who recently joined CNN after exiting Congress this month, talked this week about the chaotic drama surrounding McCarthy’s election as speaker—culminating in a near-fistfight after a weeklong stalemate with the far-right wing of the GOP caucus. McCarthy, meanwhile, seemingly secured his speakership by bribing MAGA members of his party, which holds a slim majority in the House after a disappointing midterm election.
Appearing on conservative pundit Charlie Sykes’ Bulwark podcast, Kinzinger spoke at length about “detoxing” from Congress and the current direction of his party under McCarthy. At one point, Sykes brought up disgraced Rep. George Santos (R-NY) and his broad history of fabulism and fabrication, noting that McCarthy has effectively brushed off the brand-new congressman’s many controversies despite intraparty calls for Santos to resign.