Rep. Adam Kinzinger said on Friday that he was not sure if — "God forbid" — Donald Trump became the Republican presidential nominee and that he needed to surround himself with the best experts on foreign policy.
"Donald Trump, if he becomes our nominee, God forbid, and if he becomes president — he really needs to surround himself with people that actually understand how the world works and actually understand foreign policy," the Illinois Republican told Wolf Blitzer on
CNN.
Adding that he was not sure whether he would back the front-runner if he won the overall primary race, Kinzinger said, "I can't answer that.
"I don't think he's going to be the nominee but if he does, I'd have a long, hard decision to make," he said. "I'd put my country above my party any day."
The three-term congressman, who supports former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, said that Trump lacked solid leadership traits, including harnessing voter anger to effectively advance his agenda.
"There are people that are understandably very angry and he reflects that anger. The difference is that a leader needs to show anger on behalf of people.
"The middle class has lost $2,300 in the last seven years," Kinzinger added. "I'm angry about that.
"A leader doesn't have to be angry on behalf of himself. When [Trump] gets mad, it's because he's personally offended. That's not the traits of a leader."