Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger Blasts Trump For 'Repugnant' Warning Of Civil War Over Impeachment

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Illinois Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger criticized President Donald Trump as "beyond repugnant" for quoting a conservative pastor who warned of a "Civil War-like fracture" in the U.S. if the president is removed from office.

Trump spent a large part of Sunday on Twitter, defending himself against the impeachment inquiry launched by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, accusing Democrats of a "witch hunt."

In one series of tweets, Trump quoted Rev. Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, a Southern Baptist megachurch, who told "Fox & Friends" on Sunday, "If the Democrats are successful in removing the president from office, it will cause a Civil War-like fracture in this nation from which our country will never heal."

Kinzinger, an Air Force veteran who represents a 14-county district which wraps around from the Rockford area to Ottawa to just south of Kankakee, angrily responded to Trump's tweet.

"I have visited nations ravaged by civil war," he tweeted. "I have never imagined such a quote to be repeated by a president. This is beyond repugnant."

In:
• Adam Kinzinger
• Donald Trump