Representative Adam Kinzinger accused House minority leader Kevin McCarthy of bowing to the “MAGA” wing of the Republican Party for his own political gain in a video posted to his Twitter on Saturday, September 24, 2022. 

Speaking about the new agenda for the Grand Old Party, Kinzinger said that the “Commitment to America” plan put forth by McCarthy was an “opportunity squandered”. The Congressman released a plan on Thursday, September 22, 2022 outlining issues that Republicans deem important as they work to regain majority in both Houses of Congress. According to the plan, there are four pillars to the party’s plan, economy that’s strong,” a “nation that’s safe,” a “future based on freedom” and a “government that’s accountable.”

“Kevin McCarthy, who is supposed to be the leader of the Republican Party, is instead being led by a conspiracy theorist masquerading as a member of Congress,” said Kinzinger in the video, referencing the House minority leader’s decision to include Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (Republican- Georgia) in the plan’s announcement. 

The Illinois Republican representative called McCarthy’s actions “cowardly and disgusting”, saying that “Republicans deserve better”. He went on to say that Greene had repeatedly kowtowed to Russian and has “regurgitated” the country’s propaganda about the war in Ukraine. Kinzinger further went on to say that Greene has previously called on members of Congress to go “back to the Middle East” because she disagreed with their political views. 

The Georgia representative has often been seen as a far-right conspiracy theorist, especially in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential elections when she supported former US President Donald Trump’s claims that the elections were stolen. She has also equated the Democratic Party with Nazis and had equated the COVID-19 measures taken during the pandemic to the persecution of Jews in World War II. 

McCarthy’s Commitment to America plan plays along the lines of the soon-to-be House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s 1994 “Contract with America” plan. The 1994 midterm elections marked a huge victory for the GOP as it took control of both houses.