Illinois Republican and vocal Trump critic Adam Kinzinger, who recently announced that he will not be running for reelection to the House of Representatives, has also not ruled out possibly running for a higher office than he currently holds. He’s considered a 2024 presidential run or may even be thinking of a run for Senate or the Illinois governorship.

When asked about those possibilities, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy — a true Trump fan if ever there was one — told CNN’s Melanie Zanona an anecdote about Kinzinger having basically begged Trump for a position as Secretary of the Air Force. McCarthy was attempting to jab at Kinzinger’s aspirational politics.

The problem is, it was a lie. At least it was according to Kinzinger.

Responding to a tweet by Zanona about her exchange with McCarthy, Kinzinger sent out a message of his own:

Complete lie. Standard nowadays in the trump/McCarthy playbook https://t.co/OvbM4mxacG

— Adam Kinzinger (@AdamKinzinger) November 4, 2021

We’re inclined to believe the outgoing Congressman. After all, he’s spot on about the Trump playbook. The former president and his acolytes in the GOP have gotten to a point where they simply make up whatever they like, repeat it ad nauseum on television and in interviews, and cry “fake news” when anyone tries to call them out on it.

It’s not likely that Kinzinger will allow this to stand, though. It’s one thing to have someone misrepresent your political positions or even your personal life. But pretending like Kinzinger basically kissed Trump’s giant, presumably spray-tanned backside in exchange for a position under his leadership is something else entirely.

McCarthy is certainly no stranger to making things up. He’s been a leading promoter of the “stolen election” lie that Trump has been pushing since he lost the election to Joe Biden a year ago. Even though McCarthy has distanced himself from the riots that took place at the Capitol in January, he has held on to his base by continuing to insist that Trump was the rightful winner of the presidency in 2020.

But maybe he should stick to stuff that only stupid people believe.

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