Utah Governor Spencer Cox (R) said he believes former Republican Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Illinois), who were frequent critics of former President Trump, “aren’t changing people’s minds.”
“I don’t know if they’re changing anyone’s mind,” Cox said. upon Friday episode “I don’t think you can change people’s hearts or minds at all,” the author said on Politico’s “Playbook Deep Dive” podcast.
The Utah Republican said he believes Kinzinger and Cheney are “lumping together everyone who supports Trump” rather than “trying to understand Trump.”
Kinzinger and Cheney were two of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach the former president following the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Both also served on the House’s January 6th Committee.
Cox told the Politico podcast that he doesn’t consider himself a “MAGA Republican”, but that he wants Trump to “succeed”.
“I’m always careful to emphasize that I’m not anti-Trump,” Cox said, “and while I have serious problems with some of the things he does, I like some of the things he does.”
Kinzinger supports President Biden’s reelection bid, but said Democrats need to find “the best candidate to protect our democracy” after the president’s shaky performance in Thursday’s presidential debate.
When asked by CNN host Wolf Blitzer whether he thought it would be a “good idea” for Biden to step down as the Democratic nominee, Kinzinger replied, “I’m not going to go that far because that would be a cumbersome process.”
“Democrats have to figure out how to put up the best candidate, maybe Joe Biden, to protect our democracy, because the risks in November are no joke,” Kinzinger said.
The Hill reached out to Kinzinger and Cheney.
