Asked in the exclusive interview if the former president had won the “Trump vs. Kinzinger war,” the Illinois Republican suggested there was no reason to sugarcoat reality.

“Yes, yeah, he won. In the short term, at least,” Kinzinger, one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump, told WGN’s Ben Bradley. “There’s no use in pretending somehow I scored some major victory and saved the party.”…

In the interview with WGN — which, like The Hill, is owned by Nexstar Media Group — Kinzinger said that he did not necessarily expect everyone to join him in opposing Trump but did not think he would have such few allies in his party.

“Maybe there wasn’t going to be a tidal wave of people to come over, but I certainly didn’t think I’d be alone,” he said. “We talk about democracy — Republicans like to talk about the Constitution — and yet we’re openly violating it now.”