27-year-old former 'anti-AOC' Trump aide challenges Rep. Adam Kinzinger, calls him a 'weak-kneed, establishment Republican'



Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), who has been a staunch critic of Donald Trump for years, will face a primary challenge by a former aide for the Trump administration. This week, Catalina Lauf launched her bid to oust Kinzinger by slamming the congressman as a "weak-kneed, establishment Republican."

Catalina Lauf previously served in the Trump administration in the U.S. Department of Commerce. Now, the pro-Trump 27-year-old Lauf is preparing her own "America First" campaign against Kinzinger, whom she calls a "fake Republican," in Illinois' 16th Congressional District.

"I never thought I'd primary a fellow Republican, but is Congressman Kinzinger really a Republican anymore? He isn't and we have the proof," Lauf says in her video campaign announcement that was released Tuesday.

Lauf slams Kinzinger as a "weak-kneed, establishment Republican" who "cares more about his next MSNBC appearance than the voters who elected him."

She claims that Kinzinger voted in line with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) "one in three votes."

"Instead of being in our fight, Adam betrayed his constituents for a life in the D.C. swamp," Lauf says in the video that has over 570,000 views.

Lauf bashes Kinzinger for supporting a "phony impeachment hoax for a president who has already left office."

Kinzinger was one of the 10 House Republicans who voted to charge Trump with inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol riot in his impeachment trial.

Lauf slams Kinzinger in the video while calling for term limits, "He said impeachment was 'necessary to save America.' What? You know what I think is necessary to save America, Adam? Setting term limits for people like you and the rest of your friends out. Six terms in Congress is enough."

Lauf may have Kinzinger's own family voting against him in the upcoming primary. There were 11 members of Kinzinger's family who sent him a two-page letter lambasting him for voting in favor of charging Trump for the Capitol riot.

"Oh my, what a disappointment you are to us and to God," Kinzinger's family wrote in a joint letter. "You have embarrassed the Kinzinger family name!"

"Adam Kinzinger cares more about getting points with the woke media than representing the people of Illinois," she tweeted.

Lauf wrote on Twitter, "Republicans like Liz Cheney and my opponent Adam Kinzinger should be playing no role in the future of the party or our country!"

Cheney, another Republican member of Congress who voted to charge Trump with inciting an insurrection, will also face a primary opponent that also supports the former president.

Political strategist Corey Lewandowski, who was the campaign manager for a portion of Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. retweeted Lauf's video and wrote, "Strong candidate in @CatalinaLauf."

Fake Republican Adam Kinzinger won’t put AMERICA FIRST— I will.That’s why I’m challenging him for his seat in Con… https://t.co/BLI3NvtMCW
— Catalina Lauf (@Catalina Lauf)1614121201.0

Lauf's platform includes tackling election integrity, gun rights, social media censorship, freedom of speech, illegal immigration, and "keeping the economy going."

Lauf told the Chicago Sun-Times, "This will be the number one, number two most watched race this cycle. This is going to be big, because people are very engaged and people are very upset at everything that has been happening over the last six months."

In March 2020, Lauf ran for Congress in the 14th Congressional District of Illinois, a district outside of Chicago. She captured 20% of the vote in the election, finishing third in a field of seven candidates. Former state Sen. Jim Oberweis won the GOP primary, but was ultimately defeated by Democratic Rep. Lauren Underwood by less than 2%.

Lauf, who bills herself an "anti-AOC," prides herself as the daughter of a Guatemalan immigrant mother and father who is a small-business owner.

She worked on the 2018 re-election campaign for former Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner, who lost to Democrat J.B. Pritzker.

Last August, Lauf and her sister Madeline were featured in a video on the opening night of last year's Republican National Convention, where they applauded the Trump administration's assistance to small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

WATCH: Small business owner speaks about Trump administration's support during COVID-19 www.youtube.com

AOC hit with blowback for calling for a list of 'Trump sycophants' to hold them accountable in the future



Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) faces backlash after calling for a list of social media posts from "Trump sycophants" so that they will be held accountable in the future.

On Friday afternoon, the far-left Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter: "Is anyone archiving these Trump sycophants for when they try to downplay or deny their complicity in the future? I foresee decent probability of many deleted Tweets, writings, photos in the future."

Is anyone archiving these Trump sycophants for when they try to downplay or deny their complicity in the future? I… https://t.co/n2Nh6nIWPi
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez)1604693762.0

The idea of a list of Trump allies was embraced by former CIA ops officer Evan McMullin, who wrote, "We should keep and publish a list of everyone who assists Trump's frivolous and dangerous attacks on the election. Name and shame forever."

We should keep and publish a list of everyone who assists Trump’s frivolous and dangerous attacks on the election. Name and shame forever.
— Evan McMullin 🇺🇸 (@Evan McMullin 🇺🇸)1604623005.0

Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin also agreed, "Any R now promoting rejection of an election or calling to not to follow the will of voters or making baseless allegations of fraud should never serve in office, join a corporate board, find a faculty position or be accepted into 'polite' society. We have a list."

Michael Simon, an ex-staffer of former President Barack Obama, Michael Simon, was thrilled to share a list of Trump allies.

"Every Administration staffer, campaign staffer, bundler, lawyer who represented them — everyone," he wrote in a since-deleted tweet, and also shared a link to a site called "The Trump Accountability Project."

Who could have seen this coming https://t.co/8cUBQxMHgP
— Gulag Inmate 4859 (@Gulag Inmate 4859)1604696585.0

Hari Sevugan, former national press secretary for the Democratic National Committee and senior spokesman for the Barack Obama presidential campaign, promoted the registry of Trump allies by writing, "We just launched the Trump Accountability Project to make sure anyone who took a paycheck to help Trump undermine America is held responsible for what they did."

You better believe it. We just launched the Trump Accountability Project to make sure anyone who took a paycheck to… https://t.co/TTaobxN0pX
— Hari Sevugan (@Hari Sevugan)1604694204.0

Emily Abrams, the national surrogates director for Pete Buttigieg's failed presidential campaign, also promoted the Trump Accountability Project in a now-deleted tweet.

Held responsible now? https://t.co/Jk2yPjZ5i5
— Dana Loesch (@Dana Loesch)1604712738.0

The Trump Accountability Project website states, "We must never forget those who furthered the Trump agenda."

"We should welcome in our fellow Americans with whom we differ politically. But those who took a paycheck from the Trump Administration should not profit from their efforts to tear our democracy apart," the homepage of the site reads. "The world should never forget those who, when faced with a decision, chose to put their money, their time, and their reputations behind separating children from their families, encouraging racism and anti-Semitism, and negligently causing the unnecessary loss of life and economic devastation from our country's failed response to the COVID-19 pandemic."

The site reportedly had a spreadsheet of donors, staff, and judicial appointees of President Donald Trump on a Google Drive, which has since been made private and deleted off the website, but is still viewable here.

@AOC .... https://t.co/VdC819KWEb
— Catalina Lauf (@Catalina Lauf)1604727161.0
Trump officials have already begun the effort to hide their records. We will not let that happen.Help out here:… https://t.co/rDyTx2dkug
— Trump Accountability Project (@Trump Accountability Project)1604681256.0
And, eventually they made the whole list private, although you can still access it here:https://t.co/jEK1gsdmxX
— Leslie McAdoo Gordon (@Leslie McAdoo Gordon)1604718157.0

There was a wave of pushback against AOC's registry of Trump supporters. Conservatives and liberals responded to AOC's tweet, and explained why making lists of political enemies leads down a dangerous path.

Many online commenters compared the self-described democratic socialist's idea for a list of political adversaries with authoritarian regimes such as China, Joseph Stalin's Russia, and Fidel Castro's Cuba. Others saw a parallel to McCarthyism and blacklisting during the 1950s.

Nothing says “Biden will bring us together” like “now that we Democrats have power, who has the list of our enemies… https://t.co/Am0E3PLHhV
— Drew Holden (@Drew Holden)1604717634.0


If you are creating enemies lists of your political opponents for retribution you are not fit to hold any position… https://t.co/icb5bCJvwU
— Gulag Inmate 4859 (@Gulag Inmate 4859)1604723558.0
AOC, must we then compile a blacklist with the names of the 70 million who voted against your preferences? Must w… https://t.co/06ZAipYDDg
— Nassim Nicholas Taleb (@Nassim Nicholas Taleb)1604751626.0
If @AOC gets her way, people like you and me wouldn’t get the chance to defend @realDonaldTrump in her socialist st… https://t.co/4ILCr9CTSY
— Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 (@Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸)1604698276.0
What AOC said today about logging tweets and names of Trump supporters is equivalent to what they would do in Commu… https://t.co/1vRXw1oSkU
— Ryan Fournier (@Ryan Fournier)1604717714.0
Leading Democrats like @AOC and @JRubinBlogger apparently want to treat Trump supporters like China treats the Uyghurs
— Will Chamberlain (@Will Chamberlain)1604701226.0
Sounds a lot like when Nazi Germany, Stalin Russia, Castro Cuba, Chavez/Maduro Venezuela made lists against politic… https://t.co/wArRdwM9wi
— Jorge Masvidal UFC (@Jorge Masvidal UFC)1604758375.0
I'd say rounding up 70 million Americans for political punishment is a bit ambitious, but it is kind of on brand fo… https://t.co/yqtwCKmdb9
— Mollie (@Mollie)1604720705.0
Please stop.Lists are for fascists. https://t.co/RjDpXK8jSS
— Maajid أبو عمّار (@Maajid أبو عمّار)1604744114.0
This is so Communist. God help us.p.s. .@aoc, I won’t be deleting my tweets or writings for you or anyone. I’m an… https://t.co/FgV4fPpC65
— Rachel Campos-Duffy (@Rachel Campos-Duffy)1604720645.0
Nutty AOC wants to bring back McCarthyism and the 1950's blacklist, only this time with the communists doing the bl… https://t.co/3qkFjQeoHr
— MARK SIMONE (@MARK SIMONE)1604719194.0

Some, including Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) volunteered to be placed on the list, while Megyn Kelly advocated using AOC's list as a campaign tool.

Put me down as No. 1. My name is Congressman Paul Gosar. I am a proud American and I love this country more than… https://t.co/D2Qih0fTEp
— Paul Gosar (@Paul Gosar)1604712067.0
Please put my name at the top of that list.There’ll be no texts deleted, no tweets erased or denial. Ur rhetoric re… https://t.co/bjQQgDZjHU
— Kirstie Alley (@Kirstie Alley)1604710397.0
What an awesome tweet for the Georgia GOP to plaster everywhere in their effort to ensure Republicans keep the Sena… https://t.co/BLkjzvrGrr
— Megyn Kelly (@Megyn Kelly)1604754840.0