Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger predicted that the 2024 US presidential election will be a “mess” featuring a rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
Kinzinger made the remarks in an interview on Sunday when asked how worried he was about the next time the American votes for president given how divided the country is.
ABC host George Stephanopoulos said all signs pointed to controversy similar to that seen the following the disputed 2020 election, especially with some of Trump’s allies in charge of certifying election results on the state level this time.
The host then asked Kinzinger, “How worried are you about 2024?”
“Very worried,” Kinzinger replied. “One of the things we’re focusing on are those [state]-level elections as well, the people that will determine whether they certify an election, you know, what kind of equipment is being used.”
“We focused so much on what goes on in D.C. and Congress and the Senate. But when you have these election judges that are going to people that don’t believe basically in democracy, authoritarians, 2024 is going to be a mess,” he added.
Kinzinger said one problem within the Republican Party is a lack of leadership.
“And wake up, America. Wake up, Republicans, because this is not going to be good for you if you think it is,” Kinzinger added.
An American political analyst and activist said, "Kinzinger is right. But when have our elections not been so?"
"The 2000 election was stolen by the Bush family and friends; 2004 had charges of Diebold election machines fixed to give votes to the Republicans; 2016 the Democrats stole the Primaries away from Sanders, giving us Trump, and all the while both parties do what they can to disenfranchise voters, either for their race or their political leanings," Myles Hoenig told Press TV on Monday.
"But 2024 will be a different kind of a mess, and far more damaging to our system than before. Even if all Americans recognize that Trump was criminally responsible for the January 6 Insurrection, half of them would forgive him for it. On top of that these same people are the ones being elected, not to see that another insurrection happens, but that the election will be so rigged that a legitimate insurrection would be necessary to prevent Trump or a surrogate to seize power," he added.
Kinzinger’s remarks come during public hearings being held by a nine-member Democratic-led House of Representatives select committee investigating the January 6, 2021 protest march on the Capitol when thousands of people marched against the certification of the November 2020 election which placed Biden in office as the current US president.
The committee’s public hearings, launched last week, intend to put up a case against Trump that he was responsible for the January 6 violence, starting with knowingly spreading lies around the election, seeking to overturn the results, assembling the mob in the Capitol and failing to act to stop the violence.
Kinzinger, one of two Republicans who serve on the committee, said he, his wife, and his 5-month child recently received a death threat.
The committee is trying to build a case that Trump's efforts to overturn his defeat amounted to illegal conduct, far beyond normal politics.
“There are people that — there’s violence in the future, I’m going to tell you. And until we get a grip on telling people the truth, we can’t expect any differently,” he said.
Trump has maintained that he lost the election only because of widespread fraud that benefited Biden. Trump and his supporters denounce the January 6 panel as a political witch hunt.
Trump claimed that he won the 2020 presidential election and that there was "massive" voter fraud. The former president claimed that he ordered 10,000 National Guard troops to protect the Capitol.
The White House has announced that Biden, who was the oldest individual to be inaugurated when he was sworn in January, intends to run for reelection in 2024.
Biden would be 82 at the start of his second term if reelected.
Meanwhile, Trump has said that only a doctor's call could prevent him from participating in the 2024 presidential race. The poll underscores his hold over Republican voters.
In a hypothetical 2024 matchup with the incumbent, a recent poll showed that Trump would win.