Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., on Sunday praised former President George W. Bush for calling out domestic terrorists in his 9/11 speech on the 20th anniversary of the terror attacks.
In an interview on CBS News’ “Face The Nation,” Kinzinger called the comparison of al-Qaeda and those who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 an “amazing thing.”
“He said they may be culturally very different, but they’re ‘children of the same foul spirit’,” Kinzinger said.
“And they seek to basically divide people that are different than them. This is why it’s important that we as Republicans, frankly, and as Americans, stand up and say we shouldn’t be at this point where we are truly worried for the seat of government every few months when there is a protest.”
The U.S. Capitol Police have discussed rebuilding a fence around the building ahead of a Sept. 18 rally supporting people charged in connection with the Jan. 6 violence.
Kinzinger also asserted the United States could have, and should have, defended Bagram Air Base until every American was out of Afghanistan.
“Even if we made the decision that we’re leaving and that’s an unnegotiable decision, there were a couple of key points,” he said of the chaotic U.S. military withdrawal.
“We always talk about the air base in Bagram. We could have defended that until every American was out and every Afghan SIV[Special Immigrant Visa] was out.”
“Let’s say that we still shut down that air base and we were down to that last week prior to the complete collapse of the Afghan government,” he added. “That’s when those 6,000 marines and other soldiers that rushed into the Kabul airport actually could have pushed out and defended Kabul proper, the city, because the Taliban at that point had no interest in coming into the city yet. And we could have had the evacuation on our timetable as quickly as we could.”
Kinzinger said he wants to Secretary of State Antony Blinken take responsibility for the chaotic withdrawal.
“I think there’s a lot of people that bear blame and the Secretary of State is one of these, and I think it would be nice” if he accepted blame, Kinzinger said.
“Keep in mind, even under the prior president, I would say this exact thing — for some people to just take responsibility. That’s what the American people want, is somebody to stand up and say, Look, this is on me,” he said.
He added the Taliban’s quick takeover of the country “wasn’t a surprise to many of us.”
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