Outspoken Trump Critic Adam Kinzinger Calls Pick for Secretary of State ‘A Pretty Good One’
Former Republican congressman and vocal Trump critic Adam Kinzinger called President-elect Donald Trump’s decision to nominate Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) as secretary of state “a pretty good one” on CNN, Monday.
Asked by CNN host Kaitlan Collins for his reaction “to the news that Trump is likely to pick Marco Rubio as the secretary of state,” Kinzinger replied, “I think it’s actually pretty good news.”
He explained:
You know, Marco Rubio has been obviously kind of changing– I think he even voted against Ukraine aid, which was very surprising when I learned that. But he’s not a, you know– by no means is he like a neocon, so obviously that was important for Donald Trump, but he’s somebody that understands foreign policy and that’s gonna be important. So as far as picks go, I think compared to some of the other names that were floating around, people who really don’t have any experience in foreign policy, I think this is a pretty good one.
After Collins questioned, “What does it say to you about what foreign policy would look like in a second Trump term?” Kinzinger said:
I’m not sure what the pick of Marco Rubio says for what their foreign policy is going to be. Again, and I’m willing to give as much leeway as possible, but you know, Marco has shown his ability to kind of change for whatever Donald Trump demands, so it really comes down to what does Donald Trump demand. On the Russia issue, you just gotta take Donald Trump at his word that he thinks he can solve this in 24 hours, and his vice president said, “I don’t care what happens in Ukraine.” I hope though that in this process, they’re actually going to be able to– if they’re going to cut a deal with Russia, to cut a good deal. Whatever that looks like, but one that makes sure that Ukraine is able to defend itself in the future.
He concluded, “In terms of Israel, look, this is continuing to be just a really complicated issue. There’s no doubt that I think there will be– they will put less constraints on Israel from this administration. I don’t think that’s a question, and probably will be much more aggressive at confronting Iran.”
Watch above via CNN.
