Cleveland
Adam Kinzinger is one of the few remaining House Republicans to have yet to endorse Donald Trump. While the Illinois congressman has been vocally critical of the GOP presidential nominee—particularly on foreign policy and national security—the 38-year-old Air Force veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan told THE WEEKLY STANDARD Wednesday he’s getting closer to supporting Trump.
“I’m still wrestling with it, man,” Kinzinger said, adding that he feels a sense of “duty” to his party as an elected official to support the GOP nominee. He echoed House speaker Paul Ryan’s argument that the presidential election is a “binary choice” between Trump and Hillary Clinton.
“The one thing I won’t do is support him enthusiastically,” said Kinzinger. “But I’m in a tough spot.”
Kinzinger has expressed opposition to Trump’s push for a less hawkish foreign policy within the GOP. Earlier this month, he expressed his disagreement with Trump over the candidate’s claim that Saddam Hussein helped kill terrorists.
“I was particularly taken aback because he defended his comments about Saddam Hussein. As a veteran of that war, and because a lot of guys gave their lives to unseat him, I thought it was pretty offensive,” Kinzinger told the Rockford Register Star.
But on Wednesday in Cleveland, Kinzinger said he does not want a continuation of Barack Obama’s foreign policy under Clinton. So would President Trump be better or worse on those issues? “I just don’t know,” he said, shrugging.
