Kinzinger says Trump ‘learned’ political system’s weaknesses

Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) said in a recent interview that he is worried about the upcoming presidential election because former President Trump “learned” the political system’s weaknesses in 2020.

“The problem is now, Trump and the Trump-type folks have learned where the weaknesses are in the system,” Kinzinger said on The Bulwark podcast on Tuesday.

“They accidentally tested the system, I think, intentionally tested it but accidentally tested the weak points in 2020,” he added. “And I think now they’re gonna know exactly where the weak points are.”

With Trump and Biden polling similarly, Kinzinger stressed that Trump could win in 2024. The former congressman said he thinks people aren’t taking Trump’s campaign seriously, just like his first campaign.

“If anybody thinks that Donald Trump can’t win, listen, he can win again,” he said. “Nobody thought he could win in 2016.”

He warns that if Trump were to be reelected, he would appoint members of his cabinet that disregard the Constitution and do whatever Trump wants. If that happens, Kinzinger said, “we’re going to find a system that is stressed beyond what even the Founding Fathers imagined that it could be stressed to.”

Kinzinger, an outspoken Trump critic, served in the House from 2011 to 2023 and voted for Trump’s impeachment for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot.