The former congressman and Jan. 6 investigator spoke at Tufts about tribal politics, hard power, and why civic engagement matters even more as the U.S. turns 250
Adam Kinzinger met with students before his public talk at Tufts on April 8. Photo: Laurie Swope
Former U.S. Representative Adam Kinzinger came to Tufts University on April 8 with a blunt warning and an optimistic message: American democracy is facing one of the most serious tests in its history, but it is far from finished.
Kinzinger served six terms representing Illinois’ 16th Congressional District and was one of only two Republicans on the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Speaking to an audience at the Cabot Intercultural Center as part of the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life Solomont Speaker Series, Kinzinger reflected on the fallout of Jan. 6, the role of fear and tribalism in politics, and what citizens can do to defend democracy as the nation approaches its 250th anniversary.
Despite his sharp criticism of the administration and his former Congressional colleagues, Kinzinger emphasized that he remains positive about the future of the country as long as Americans do not give up hope. Here are some takeaways from his talk, which was moderated by Tisch College Dean Emeritus Alan Solomont.
Tribal politics are undermining democracy.
Asked why so few Republicans in Congress have been willing to break with the party line, Kinzinger noted how political identity has hardened into tribal loyalty. He said fear of losing that sense of belonging keeps many politicians silent in moments of crisis.
“We’ve made our political identities our tribal tattoo,” he said, noting that as with our ancestors, humans find safety and comfort in belonging to a group. “More than they fear death, I think people fear being kicked out of a tribe.”
That dynamic, he suggested, explains why Republicans did not act forcefully after Jan. 6, allowing the falsehood that the 2020 election was stolen to take hold and spread.
Letting the claims that American elections are rigged or illegitimate go unchecked was one of the most dangerous consequences of that partisan allegiance, he said.
Self‑governance, the bedrock of democracy, will never survive, he said, “if half of the country believes that the system doesn’t work.”
Hard power without strategy weakens America.
Kinzinger, a former Air Force pilot who served in both Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, was unsparing in his criticism of the current conflict with Iran. While he said that he is “hawkish on Iran,” he argued that military force must be tied to clear objectives, the ability to achieve them, and the strategic patience to see the plan through—none of which he has seen in this war.
Beyond the immediate conflict, Kinzinger is concerned with the broader issue of hard power superseding soft power in America’s foreign policy arsenal. From a tactical perspective, whenever the United States strikes, it exposes its technology.
“Every time we go to war, or we use war, we actually reveal secrets,” Kinzinger said, from the GPS-guided bombs used in Iraq in 2003 to the “ghost murmur” tool that the CIA deployed just this month to locate an American airman shot down in Iran. Competitor nations such as China and Russia use those technological revelations to adjust their own defenses, Kinzinger said, “so now we have to innovate again.”
He contrasted costly military interventions with the long-term effectiveness of diplomacy and development, soft powers that build goodwill and security at a fraction of the cost of war.
He told how he once visited a village in Kenya where USAID had helped increase the milk output of cows, greatly increasing the incomes of subsistence farmers.
“You will never recruit an enemy out of that village because when they think of America, they think of somebody that changed their life,” he said. “That is the importance of soft power.”
Sometimes, he said, hard power is necessary, “but soft power is a cheaper, more morally effective way to do what we need to do.”
Don’t be spoon-fed rage.
How did the nation become so divided? Kinzinger partly blames the media ecosystem, from talk radio to social media, which has presented Americans with two opposing outlooks that thrive on indignation.
“20 years of … brainwashing people in a certain worldview is coming home to roost, right?” he asked. “We are in our own information silos and we need to quit wanting to be drones that are spoon-fed rage.”
Still, he has hope that the next generation will be savvy enough to weed through the deepfakes and disinformation.
“Eventually, I believe people will be able to distinguish better what’s fake and what’s reaI,” he said. “I don’t know how we get to this, but we will have to be compelled to take ownership of our own information and what we read.”
Addressing the students in the room, he added that the current generation “is already starting to get there.”
Democracy survives if we don’t give up.
Kinzinger reminded the audience that previous generations endured crises that were “borderline existential” to America, including civil war, economic collapse, and social upheaval.
“Every generation had that moment … that felt like this may be the end for our country,” he said. And yet “every generation has carried that weight and left a country stronger than they inherited it when that moment passed. I don’t think we’re going to be any different. And I think we’re going to refuse to fail.”
As the nation marks its 250th anniversary, he urged Americans—especially young people—to stay engaged, vote, question narratives, and resist cynicism.
“Take that burden that you carry on your shoulder for the country every day that weighs you down and depresses you and drop it,” he said, “because you’re not in this alone.”
