Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) on Thursday said the future of leadership for the Republican Party is unclear after President Trump departs the White House.
“You’re starting to see this civil war bubble up within the GOP,” Kinzinger said during an appearance on CNN’s “AC360.”
“People ask me all the time what happens when Donald Trump is no longer in the picture, who’s the heir apparent to MAGA? And the answer is, nobody knows,” he added.
Kinzinger railed against white nationalist Nick Fuentes and urged the party to shy away from endorsing his stance on issues after controversy from his interview with Tucker Carlson has divided the conservative base.
“I think what you’re starting to see is an understanding that Donald Trump really isn’t going to run again. He can’t. He’s admitting it. So you’re seeing these factions now kind of rising up and fighting for this,” he told anchor Anderson Cooper.
“This is a decision that Republicans, kind of by and large, are going to have to make. Are you going to return to be the party of kind of Reagan-esque, which I don’t think they will. Are you going to allow these Nick Fuentes types to come in? I hope they don’t allow that, but that is a decision they have to make,” Kinzinger added.
He noted that once Trump leaves office, voters will see infighting “in full throat.”
Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have both been dubbed early Republican contenders for the 2028 presidential election.
However, both say they are remaining focused on their current roles for the time being.
“I believe that if I am able to be here, through the duration of this presidency, and we get things done at the pace that we’ve been doing the last six months, I’ll be able to look back at my time in public service and say I made a difference, I had an impact, and I served my country in a very positive way,” Rubio told Lara Trump in July during a Fox News interview.
“And I would be satisfied with that as the apex of my career,” he added.
Rubio also said Vance was one of his “closest friends in politics.”
