Appearing on CNN on Friday morning, former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) hit out at Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) for racing to Twitter to praise and defend Air National Guard member Jack Teixeira, who was accused of leaking classified military documents.
Just hours after Teixeira was taken into custody, Taylor Greene -- who opposes military aid to Ukraine -- blasted officials for arresting him, writing on Twitter: "Jack Teixeira is white, male, christian,[sic] and antiwar. That makes him an enemy to the Biden regime. And he told the truth about troops being on the ground in Ukraine and a lot more. Ask yourself who is the real enemy? A young low level national guardsmen? Or the administration that is waging war in Ukraine, a non-NATO nation, against nuclear Russia without war powers?"
Asked by CNN host John Berman to comment, Kinzinger, who is still a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard, said he was not surprised that the Georgia Republican would twist what happened for her own political benefit.
"I want to take your colonel hat off and put your congressman, former congressman, hat on," host Berman prompted. "Marjorie Taylor Greene, your former Republican colleague, was on social media defending the allegations against Jack Teixeira and what he is alleged to have done, suggesting that he might be some kind of hero and praised him for what he did. What do you make of that?"
"It's sick, it's really sick, John," Kinzinger shot back. "I mean, look, there's been this like thing in the Republican party about just owning the libs and being against everything the libs are for or against, you know. And I knew this was gonna happen -- I predicted it."
"They're going to turn him into a hero," he continued. "This guy is a traitor to his country. Marjorie Taylor Greene either knows that or she doesn't know it because she doesn't understand how any of this works."
"If I was [House Speaker] Kevin McCarthy I'd have stripped her security access, but of course, he won't do that. He'll just continue to be nice to her so he can stay speaker," he added.
CNN 04 14 2023 10 05 25 youtu.be
