GOP's Adam Kinzinger says Kevin McCarthy dismissed his warnings about potential Jan. 6 violence

Adam Kinzinger.
(Image credit: Ken Cedeno-Pool/Getty Images)

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) said Monday that he tried and failed to warn his Republican colleagues about politically-inspired violence ahead of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

A few days before Jan. 6, Kinzinger tweeted, he told House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) during a conference call that Republican rhetoric, including McCarthy's own, about the presidential election and former President Donald Trump's baseless claims of fraud would have violent consequences. But McCarthy, Kinzinger, said, quickly dismissed his concerns and rushed to the next question, acknowledging Kinzinger's words with only a simple, "ok, Adam."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.