Adam Kinzinger is back. The former GOP congressman, Air National Guard lieutenant colonel, January 6th committee member, and founder of Country First sits down with Paul to answer the question nobody in corporate media wants to touch head-on: will Donald Trump attack the 2026 elections, and if he does, what will it actually look like? Kinzinger lays out why a blowout is the best defense against an authoritarian steal, where the real danger lives — the margins, the close races, the House deciding who it seats — and why the two-thirds of Republicans who are not ride-or-die with Trump are finally starting to speak up.
From there Paul and Adam go wide. Can James Talarico actually flip Texas, or is this another Democratic head fake? Is there a lane for a true independent — a Kinzinger, a Cuban, a McConaughey — to break the rigged two-party system in a state like Texas? What did Paul see and what did Adam see on the ground in Ukraine, where Kyiv is under attack around the clock and Ukrainian drone innovation could have saved America billions on Patriot interceptors against Iranian Shaheds — if Trump had said yes. It is a no-BS conversation about leadership, retention, and whether the American project still has the independents it needs to save itself.
In this episode
- Will Trump attack the 2026 elections? Kinzinger’s threat assessment and why a blowout is the best firewall
- The House of Representatives deciding who it seats — the margin-of-victory danger nobody is talking about
- Why Kinzinger still calls himself a Republican after four years of not voting for one
- The GOP’s retention crisis: one-third ride-or-die, one-third default, one-third waking up
- Can James Talarico flip Texas? Kinzinger gives it 51-49 and explains the “deep breath default”
- The lane for a true independent in Texas — Kinzinger, Cuban, McConaughey, and the ballot-access problem
- Ukraine ground truth: Kyiv under 24-hour attack, drone-on-drone air defense, and the Shahed story
- How Ukraine offered the U.S. cheap counter-drone tech for Iran — and Trump said no
- Something good: Republicans are now walking up to Kinzinger to say thank you
- Football Friday picks: Georgia-Alabama, Oregon-UCLA, Bears-Packers, Falcons-Ravens
