Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., didn’t mince words when he criticized fellow GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert’s recent comments on church-state separation. In a tweet posted Wednesday morning, he compared the Republican from Colorado to a member of the Taliban.
“We must (oppose) the Christian Taliban. I say this as a Christian,” Kinzinger tweeted.
Boebert’s now-infamous remarks came Sunday during a worship service at Cornerstone Christian Center in Colorado. She told the congregation she was “tired of this separation of church and state junk,” arguing that faith groups should have more power, as the Deseret News previously reported.
“The church is supposed to direct the government. The government is not supposed to direct the church. That is not how our Founding Fathers intended it,” Boebert said.
Kinzinger, who is part of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, and Boebert, who got one step closer to winning back her House seat on Tuesday by winning the Republican nomination, share the same political party but play very different roles within it. Boebert is closely aligned with former President Donald Trump, while Kinzinger voted to impeach him in January 2021.
Wednesday’s tweet was not the first time the Illinois lawmaker lashed out against Boebert on Twitter. In November, Kinzinger described her as “trash” after she was caught on video mocking Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Muslim Democrat who represents Minnesota.
Kinzinger also repeatedly retweeted attacks on Boebert from one of her opponents in the Colorado primary, Business Insider reported.
On Thursday, Kinzinger shared more thoughts on religion and politics after facing pushback over his “Christian Taliban” tweet. He said “normal Christians” need to speak out against the misinterpretation of Christian teachings, just as “moderate Muslims” should speak out against radical Islamists.
“I can’t find anywhere Jesus said that the (government) matters to him,” Kinzinger tweeted.