Trump critic: A ‘massive backlash’ is coming when country wakes up

Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) said there will be a “massive backlash” after Americans realize who they voted when they elected Donald Trump to the White House.
Trump clinched the White House early Wednesday morning after sweeping the battleground states of Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Voters were not turned away from his numerous criminal cases, his felony conviction or his role in inciting the Jan. 6. 2021 insurrection on the Capitol as he earned the necessary 270 electoral votes.
Kinzinger, who endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the White House, warned that Americans may not like who they voted into office. Kinzinger did not seek reelection in 2022 following his vote to impeach Trump and investigate him for his role on Jan. 6.
“Everybody keep your heads up. This isn’t forever, and after America gets a taste of what it voted for, there will likely be a massive backlash,” Kinzinger wrote on social media platform X. “There will be lots of time to come, and I’m still in the trenches with you. Just going to take a bit longer.”
Kinzinger is one of dozens of Republicans who denounced Trump and endorsed Harris ahead of the 2024 election. Despite the Harris campaign touting her inroads among Republicans, Trump was overwhelmingly projected to win the electoral college. He is also leading in the popular vote as of Wednesday morning, which would make him the first Republican to win the popular vote since George W. Bush in 2004.
With a win in Wisconsin, Trump cleared the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency.
The victory validates his bare-knuckles approach to politics. He attacked his Democratic rival, Kamala Harris, in deeply personal – often misogynistic and racist – terms as he pushed an apocalyptic picture of a country overrun by violent migrants. The coarse rhetoric, paired with an image of hypermasculinity, resonated with angry voters – particularly men – in a deeply polarized nation.
“I want to thank the American people for the extraordinary honor of being elected your 47th president and your 45th president,” Trump told throngs of cheering supporters in Florida even before his victory was confirmed.
In state after state, Trump outperformed what he did in the 2020 election while Harris failed to do as well as Joe Biden did in winning the presidency four years ago. Upon taking office again, Trump will work with a Senate that will now be in Republican hands, while control of the House hadn’t been determined.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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