When Steve Pink‘s “The Last Republican” debuted at 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, audiences and critics alike embraced the documentary about former U.S. Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger.
Kinzinger, a Republican, voted in favor of impeaching Donald Trump in 2021 and then served on the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol with Democrats and fellow Republican Liz Cheney. The doc, which follows Kinzinger during his final year in office, could easily have been depressing or contentious, given that Pink is on the political left and Kinzinger is a Reagan-loving conservative. But instead, Pink, known for directing “Hot Tub Time Machine,” managed to do the impossible and made a riveting, humorous political documentary that demonstrates that in an age of political division, civil bipartisan discussion is possible.
In the lead-up to the 2024 Presidential election, the film was vital viewing at festivals like the Camden International Film Festival in Maine and the Chicago International Film Festival. But despite its powerful, hopeful message that Americans on both sides of the political aisle can engage in civil discourse even as sectarianism tears the nation apart, streamers steered clear of the film.
So, Pink did what most documentary filmmakers are doing these days and self-distributed the doc across all major digital platforms and streaming services. After a nationwide release on Oct. 29, “The Last Republican” became Apple TV’s number one documentary. With the backing of Meidas Studios, the film has earned mid-six-figure profits.
Variety spoke to Pink and Kinzinger about Trump, Jeffrey Epstein and a possible GOP civil war.
What are your hopes for the film being released now?
Kinzinger: Before the 2024 election, when the film was playing at film festivals, there was a certain feeling watching it. After the election, it takes on a completely different feeling and that different feeling is like a little bit of sadness and sickness. Like, ‘Oh my gosh. I can’t believe this is happening.’ But also being able to look at it and say, ‘Hey, it’s a reminder that this thing really happened and that we basically have a real fight to fight.’ So, I think the timing couldn’t be better. Hopefully, this movie can re-motivate people, to an extent, to stand up and do the right thing.
Pink: It seemed like the right amount of time had passed to look back and assess where we were and what had happened.
Adam, since Trump’s re-election, you have been very vocal about what he has done wrong. Has he come after you?
Kinzinger: I’ll let you in on a little inside stuff. Every time I met with Trump, he was obsessed with me. I didn’t endorse him in 2016. I didn’t even vote for him. He knew that and he was mad about it. He told our state party chairman, ‘Tell Adam to go f himself.’ Then he won in 2016, and after that, in March, I went to the Oval Office, and I figured that he was going to chew me out. So, I go into the Oval Office and he just looks at me and says, ‘You are great on television.’ His attention was on me. Now, I’m not saying that to say, ‘I’m cool’ or to brag. He knew that I wasn’t fully in the tank for him and that obsessed him, because when you are a narcissist, you have to win everybody over. I equate it to when you’re a teenage boy asks a girl out on a date or to the prom and she says no. You want to go out with her even more. That’s how Donald Trump is. So, has he come after me? Yes. He attacks me verbally. Not much, but he does. They haven’t come after me on anything else, and if they do, I’ll double down and be even worse to them.
Trump has been in office for close to a year. Do you see his MAGA base turning at all?
Kinzinger: Those who are hardcore MAGA, I would love to see all of them wake up, find religion, and switch. Obviously, that is not going to happen. When we are dealing with a country that is so closely divided, if you can just move the margins a little bit, and that’s what we saw in Virginia and New Jersey.
Do you think that the Jeffrey Epstein files being released will affect Trump’s presidency?
Kinzinger: So things like the Epstein files, I mean, you can not with a straight face and on CIA truth serum, honestly, tell me that Donald Trump’s not in them. Now it’s clear he’s in them. So everybody in their own soul has to look in and go, ‘Am I going to protect a child sex trafficker or somebody associated with one?’ There are some people who can’t do that. Some people can. So, I think that continued economic hardship, things like $40 billion to bail out Argentina, that stuff compiles into people turning. I also think the second it becomes clear that Donald Trump is not running again, which he’s not, then you start to see a civil war in the (Republican) party in terms of who is going to take over after that.
Do you think you will run for office again?
Kinzinger: Not in 2026, but I’m open to it. I don’t want people to think that me speaking out now is related to some desire to run again. People tend to think that about politicians. But I still have that burning desire to do something, so I would definitely keep it open, but not as a Republican. That party is gone.
Pink: But if they restore themselves to the Mitt Romney level party?
Kinzinger: The tough thing about that is that you would be ultimately empowering people who empowered an autocrat and potentially a trafficker. I like the policies of a Mitt Romney. He’s a good guy, but ultimately, when you elect somebody for president, you are electing everything around that person. But the big question right now is, are Democrats willing to be a big tent? That doesn’t mean that Democrats have to become Republicans. For instance, I’m in Texas. You probably need somebody for a statewide office who is more conservative than most Democrats. But what does that get you? If you have, for instance, a Texas Democrat, let’s say that is pro Second Amendment, none of that matters. What matters is who they will vote for as leadership. So, that’s a big question for the Democrats. I think they are working through that right now.
In the doc you make fun of Steve for being so far left that he is “basically a Communist.” What are your thoughts now on Steve’s politics?
I think Steve and I probably agree on a lot more than we let on. At this moment, I don’t care about people’s political beliefs in terms of issues. The only thing I care about is whether you are going to be in the trench with me defending democracy, and Steve is. What I’ve learned, I always knew this, but now I can put words to it, is that I enjoy being around people who are different than me and disagree more than I enjoy people say yes to everything I say. I mean, how fun is that to sit and have a beer with somebody that’s like, ‘I agree. I agree. I agree.’ It’s more fun to find someone with a different viewpoint and get to know them. Steve and I developed a truly genuine friendship.
variety.com
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