“I also remember during that campaign saying that if I ever thought it was time to move on from Congress, I would, and that time is now,” Kinzinger said.
Kinzinger left the door open to running for different political offices in the future in the video.
“I cannot focus on both a reelection to Congress and a broader fight nationwide. I want to make it clear. This isn’t the end of my political future, but the beginning,” he said. “Serving six terms in Congress has been an honor of a lifetime.”
In his announcement video, Kinzinger also suggested the political environment — without saying Republicans or Trump — has “allowed leaders to reach the power selling the false premise that strength comes from degrading others and dehumanizing those that look, act or think differently than we do.”
He added: “As a country we’ve fallen for those lies and now we face a poisoned country filled with outrage, blinding our ability to achieve real strength. It has become increasingly obvious to me that as a country, we must unplug from the mistruth we’ve been fed.”
He also said that because of this, he doesn’t plan to try to “focus” on that and running for reelection.
“In Congress, I’ve witnessed our division is heavily rooted. There’s little to no desire to bridge our differences and unity is no longer a word we use,” he said in the video. “It has also become increasingly obvious to me that in order to break the narrative, I cannot focus on both a reelection to Congress and a broader fight nationwide.”
His House colleagues are already feeling the shock of his announcement moments after his tweet. Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley of Illinois told CNN’s Erica Hill it was a “surprise” to hear he wasn’t running for reelection.
“It’s a surprise to me. Look, I’ve worked well with Adam during our times in Congress. When Democrats ask Republicans to speak truth to power, you know, if we ask them to do that and they do that with some courage, I think we owe it to them to give them the recognition. So, you know, that’s a shame,” he said on CNN.
“I’m going to miss Mr. Kinzinger in Congress,” he added. “And I hope he continues in public life with the kinds of things he’s doing, addressing the concerns we had with the Trump administration.”
This story has been updated with additional developments Friday.
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