Rep. Adam Kinzinger is fed up with today's Republican Party ... so he's starting a movement to reclaim the GOP ... and he's even open to becoming its standard-bearer.
The Republican Congressman from Illinois appeared on "TMZ Live" Monday and said he launched his Country First PAC because of the state of his party, which has embraced Donald Trump's big lie that the election was stolen ... and that's just for starters.
Kinzinger -- who is one of 10 GOP members who voted to impeach Donald Trump -- acknowledges there's a wrestling match of sorts within the party. He thought eyes would open after the January 6th insurrection ... he uses the metaphor of a Friday night bender to describe what he thought would be a turning point for the party, but that didn't happen.
So the Congressman has made it clear ... he will be a leader in the movement he's starting, and turns out there are like-minded members of Congress who are quietly supporting his effort. There are also lots of Republicans who are sick and tired of people like Marjorie Taylor Greene and others with crazy conspiracy theories ... who may find a home in Kinzinger's camp.
Kinzinger acknowledges there's some risk to him professionally, but the upside is that the movement he's started will catch fire and muscle out the radical right. And of course, that led us to ask him if he's open to a Presidential run in 2024 ... he didn't say no.