In a statement released Wednesday, Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger said it’s more important for the GOP to keep its values than to win the presidential election in November.
The Illinois congressman recently made headlines when he said he couldn’t support Donald Trump due to comments the GOP nominee made about NATO during the Republican National Convention in July.
“Winning this election is important, but preserving the soul of the best party to defend our values is also paramount,” Kinzinger stated Wednesday.
Although Kinzinger “utterly disdain[s]” Hillary Clinton, he fears a Trump presidency would cause more damage for the conservative cause.
“I also fear that our nominee’s behavior and rhetoric may deliver a loss that not only undermines our conservative values, but makes it even more difficult to defend them and shape the future of our nation,” he wrote. “I have not ruled out ever supporting him, in fact my hope is that the last 72 hours is indicative of the new Donald Trump…my fingers are crossed. I hope he discusses Republicanism as we knew it: Fiscally conservative through reform; hope for the hopeless; and an America that our enemies (including Putin) fear and our allies (including NATO) trust.”
Kinzinger is running unopposed for re-election.
