Newsweek: Adam Kinzinger on Marjorie Taylor Greene's $3.2M Fundraising Haul: 'Crazy Stuff' Will Bring in Cash

Representative Adam Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican, strongly criticized Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican, saying that she has only managed to raise millions of dollars by saying "crazy stuff" and "abusing" the fears and emotions of GOP voters.

Kinzinger and Greene represent rival factions within the Republican Party. While Greene is staunchly supportive of former President Donald Trump and continues to push baseless conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, Kinzinger has repeatedly slammed Trump and Republicans who remain loyal to the former president. The Illinois congressman has constantly pushed back against their false claims and criticized Trump and other Republicans for inflaming the GOP base with lies and conspiracies.

While Kinzinger has set up the Country First political action committee to raise money for Republicans opposed to Trump, raking in $2.2 million in the first quarter of 2021, Greene has managed to bring in even more money. On April 7, the Georgia Republican announced that she'd fundraised $3.2 million.

"What that tells me is that, you know, at least when it comes to some of the base and small dollar fundraising, saying crazy stuff is going to get you some money," Kinzinger said during a Friday interview with PBS News' Firing Line. The congressman pointed out that "unfortunately it's a pattern that we've learned works."

In a Friday interview, Representative Adam Kinzinger (R-Illinois) accused Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) of "abusing" the fears and emotions of GOP voters to "steal their money." In the photo on the left, Kinzinger speaks during a House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing on March 10 on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. To the left, Greene speaks during a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol on February 5 in Washington, D.C.

The Illinois Republican said that Greene "knew" this was a good strategy and that it allowed her to harvest a lot of money from GOP voters. "She's not on committees. She's not a serious legislator. Nobody takes her seriously when it comes to any piece of legislation, but yet she goes on and reflects anger and leads people astray and can raise money."

He said that small donors may be more likely to give "to the person that's the loudest."

"I think the other thing it shows is the people [like Greene] are abusing the base Republicans. They are abusing the people that we love and we represent. They're abusing their fears. They're abusing their emotions to steal their money," Kinzinger said.

He argued Republicans like Greene are abusing the "innate patriotism of our party and Americans and it's absolutely wrong."

Newsweek reached out to Greene's press secretary for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.

Greene was stripped of her congressional committee assignments in early February, just a month after the freshmen congresswoman was sworn in as a representative in the House. Kinzinger was one of 11 Republicans to vote with his Democratic colleagues to remove the GOP lawmaker from committees after former social media posts and interactions resurfaced. In some, Greene promoted baseless conspiracy theories, expressed support for QAnon and suggested she approved of violence against fellow members of Congress.

Although Kinzinger and a number of other GOP lawmakers have come out staunchly against Trump and his loyalist Republican allies following the January 6 insurrection against the U.S. Capitol by the former president's supporters, GOP voters appear to be largely supportive of Trump and his faction of the party. Numerous polls have shown that Trump remains the dominant force within the Republican Party, while Kinzinger and those opposed to Trump are viewed by many GOP voters as "disloyal."

The original article and video coverage can be found on the Newsweek website here.