Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., unleashed savage criticisms of party leadership ahead of a Republican vote expected to cost Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., her chair due to her stance on former President Donald Trump. At a virtual event with the National Press Club, Kinzinger said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy no longer represents the party and made dire predictions about the future of the GOP under Trump.

"You cannot unite with lies. If somebody is going to use lies to gain power and say, 'let's have unity,' you can't do it," Kinzinger said. "'We need to remove Liz Cheney because she makes me have to answer questions that I know are false.' That's what they're saying."

Kinzinger singled out McCarthy, who initially supported Cheney but abandoned her when she persisted in blaming Trump for the Jan. 6 Capitol riots.

"He's basically made the decision, when he went to Mar-A-Lago, that he was not going to be the leader of the Republican Party. He had the opportunity after January 6 ... to basically take the reins of the Republican Party and be the leader, and he handed those reins over to Trump."

Trump himself was another target, with Kinzinger calling him a “paper tiger.”

"I think he's never made a real decision in his life and I think he's scared to death of his own shadow," he said.

While Kinzinger still says the GOP can win back the House in the 2022 midterm election, he worried that elevating extremist voices put that possibility at risk.

"We still may win the majority, but I think that gets threatened. I think the crazies - and when I say crazies, I don't mean the true believers. I'm kind of talking about the ones that are just like grifters like [Rep.] Marjorie Taylor Greene just doing it for the money and fame - they'll be emboldened," he said.

The alt-right is hardly shying away from the fight. At a rally in Florida’s The Villages, Kinzinger’s name attracted boos.

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