Rep. Adam Kinzinger attends a meeting with the House Jan. 6 select committee on Dec. 1, 2021. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images
Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) said in an interview with HuffPost on Monday he "would love" to run for president against former President Trump, who is expected to mount a campaign for 2024.
What he's saying: "Even if he crushed me, like in a primary, to be able to stand up and call out the garbage is just a necessary thing, regardless of who it is," said the vocal Trump critic, who is not seeking re-election this year. "I think it’d be fun."
- Kinzinger has not said what he plans to do after leaving Congress. "I’ll make a decision when we get there, if there’s a need and a desire," he told HuffPost.
- A presidential campaign is "truly not anything I’m planning right now, but I’m not going to rule it out."
- "Look, if we’re in a position, if it’s just terrible candidates and the country’s in a worse place? Maybe. But there’s no grand plan right now," he added.
- "Maybe I would have run for governor. Maybe I would have run for Senate. Who knows? But yeah, my time in the House is, mercifully, coming to an end."
The big picture: Kinzinger became the target of Trump's wrath after voting to impeach him last year.
- "In Congress, I've witnessed how division is heavily rooted," he said in a video announcing his decision. He told the HuffPost on Monday that he is "exhausted of the same arguments, the same kind of performative politics."
- Kinzinger is one of two Republicans serving on the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.