Adam Kinzinger on Trump’s Stunt at Arlington, His Body Odor & Republicans Scared to Speak Out

our next guest is a former Air Force pilot and the only former Republican Congressman invited to speak at the Democratic National Convention Donald Trump is a weak man pretending to be strong he is a small man pretending to be big he's a faithless man pretending to be righteous he's a perpetrator who can't stop playing the victim please welcome Adam [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] kinginger hey it's very good to finally meet you how you doing it's great to be with you thank you you uh did you ever imagine as a lifelong Republican that you would ever speak at the Democratic National Convention and be embraced wholeheartedly there yeah it was quite an experience and like no I never never imagined I would say maybe a year or two years ago it kind of if you told me it's maybe this makes sense because my party has just gone off the rails and they no longer defend democracy and it's like that's what that's what my calling is to defend that are you surprised by that when you when you you first started saying hey this the guy Donald Trump should not be leading our country or our party were you surprised that um at the the vitriol that was directed at you no because that's what he does I mean look he he's built a cult he's really built a cult of personality and when you go after the leader of a cult it's almost like going after somebody's religion because this is what they have t everything they do is built on this idea that Donald Trump's going to save America so the vital is crazy what I what did shock me a little bit is getting texts from Old Friends my co-pilot I flew with in Iraq texting me that he's ashamed to have ever flown with me uh you know extended family members that basically sent a certified letter which I guess they still have sent to my parents house disowning me and saying I'm part of the devil's Army I mean that's when you see and I'm not saying that for sympathy but this is what's happening to families all around this country is they're being torn apart for a man that is more flawed than anybody that's ever sat in the Oval Office is that is that if you're assigning fault is that Donald Trump's fault or is it the fault of these news organizations who um who F I mean for instance Fox did not air your speech they did not run it they did not run that part of the convention um which is you know it's kind of crazy for some a channel that says it's fair and balanced that it's a news has the word news in their title yeah is to whom do you assign the blame for that well look this I mean I think the the the ground for Donald Trump started before he came into the scene and you know and I talk about this in my book it's Amia CPA of like look we used fear to raise money we used division to raise money you know that to us it kind of felt harmless but this is a way to build the campaign coffers so the news organizations politicians and then Donald Trump comes along and Donald Trump has no commitment to truth I mean this is the thing is every president in our in the history of our country has at least had a basic commitment to saying the truth sometimes right or at least saying I want when I get out of here to leave a country stronger than I came in Donald Trump came in and basically has said it's all about me the only thing that matters to him is his ego and what that means for him not for the country so yes he takes probably the Lion Share of the blame but look people like Kevin McCarthy Donald Trump was s n grada in the Republican party after January 6 for 3 weeks and then Kevin McCarthy goes to Mara Lago and it was like the ambulance pulls up with those little battles that get your heart started again and they resurrected he resurrected him politically so he Bears a lot of blame as well are there other Republicans who are not speaking out who feel this way oh there're so many of them and that's the thing is like you know people will tell me sometimes like Adam you're courageous and I appreciate it I'm not not courageous though I'm surrounded by cowards so you know just reality I mean how hard as it to tell the truth but so I think you'll see more from Liz Cheney soon I don't and I haven't talked to her about it I have no idea but I would expect that you know she's just so committed to this stuff but there are so many people I talk to that are sitting around like I just can't speak out I can't speak they're scared yeah they're scared I had somebody tell me actually a number of people tell me Adam and this is when I was still in Adam I appreciate apprciate what you're doing I can't say that because I'd lose in my district but I appreciate you doing it it's like I'm going to lose in my district by doing it join the club brother yeah you tweeted something and I thought was fascinating I think we have that um here this is a last year you wrote about Donald Trump I'm genuinely surprised how people close to Trump haven't talked about the odor it's truly something to behold wear a mask if you can now I mean what did it smell like specifically so if you take like armpits uh catchup makeup and a little butt it's probably like that all mixed up and that's that's the Trump formula little bit of a pungent odor I would say yeah I you definitely wouldn't want to bottle it up and wear Trump cologne that's for sure is this something that like you guys would talk about like oh boy wow he's got something going on there I think I think people are a little scared to talk about it but it was OB maybe it wasn't permanent or all the time but it's there you spent time with him I did yeah you got close to him not too close no like he he you know we he invite all of us into the Oval Office all the time and it's hard to hard to avoid that what this photo op situation that um he concocted at Arlington National Cemetery you've been there would you you're a veteran um you know you youve you've served you've been in the I mean explain why that's so that's such a vile thing to do it's one thing for a sitting president or even a candidate to go on an official visit to S to go not to take pictures to honor the Fallen who have died for this country it is like the last vesage of nonpartisanship that we have to hold in this country and we have to hold it in a very kind of uh religious way almost people that gave everything to go there to have one of his staff members push a worker who probably was pretty angry because she saw what was happening which is these people that she's been committed probably her life to honoring he's going to go there and make a mockery of it and he went in and turned it into a campaign EV it God is picture smiled with his thumbs up for God's sakes and uh and what so what you can do is now if you politicize Arlington National Cemetery everybody running for congress everybody running for the Senate is going to have to go there and get their picture taken at Arlington to show that they're a good solid American you cannot politicize Fallen American soldiers come hell or high water that is a red line you can't cross he crossed it happily and he's defending himself and not just defending himself going after the worker that one of his people shoved and that is just so beneath the presidency I feel like you know Donald Trump claims to be PR military you he so supportive of the mil all this nonsense people forget that he this is a draft Dodger this is a guy who got a medical ex exemption uh through his father's connections saying that his feet were bad too bad to serve while he was playing on the basketball team at his school a and that just seems to mean nothing to any of his supporters no and it thought and and you know not to mention what he said about Mccain not to mention the suckers and losers comments it's liter Lally every week he says something and if you get into his head for one moment you just have to say this is a guy that literally cannot fathom cannot fathom what it means to do something bigger than yourself or to do something for anybody but yourself so he does think they're suckers and losers because to him why give your life if it's not going to benefit you and that's why he is so utterly unqualified be besides every other reason we've talked about because he does not appreciate what it means to send people into combat and to lose lives and he smells and he smells thank you Adam Adam kiner you can see him on CNN appreciate you being here we'll be back with Vance Joy [Applause]