GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger says he felt 'dirty' voting for Trump in 2020, but at the time he wanted to 'have credit with the base'

After voting for Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, Adam Kinzinger said he felt dirty, but he made his decision because he wanted to have credit with the GOP base.

In an interview with The Washington Post, the Illinois Republican said that he pulled the lever for the former president in order to say he voted for him.

The conservative leaning 16th congressional district, which mostly covers Chicago suburbs, was the basis for Kinzinger's thinking at the time.

I can say I did it even though he won't win. He explained that he had credit with the base.

He agreed that the vote for Trump made him a political cowardice.

I was indeed. He told The Washington Post that he felt dirty because of his support of Trump.

He said that it wasn't something he could put away completely in his soul.

He pointed to Democrats as a way to justify his opposition to the first impeachment proceeding.

He said in the interview that he voted against impeachment because he was afraid of how his people would react to his deviation from the conservatives.

He told the newspaper that he was done if he voted for that.

Kinzinger told Rolling Stone that he would have voted to impeach if he could do things differently.

He said at the time that he would vote for the first impeachment if he could go back in time. I have a regret that I did not.

Kinzinger didn't hold back in his criticism of the former president when it came to the January 6 riot, becoming one of only 10 House Republicans to support his impeachment for "incitement of insurrection."

The Senate voted in favor of acquitting Trump.

Kinzinger became one of the most recognizable GOP faces in Congress after joining the House committee on January 6.

Over the past year, he has spoken about the repercussions of his repudiation of Trump, pointing to disputes within his family, the long-term viability of the GOP, and threats that he has received against his immediate family.

Kinzinger decided to retire at the end of the current congress after the lines of his district were redrawn.