Rep. Adam Kinzinger (Ill.), one of two Republicans on the House panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, said in a new interview with WGN-TV that he believes former President Trump has won their short-term battle over the soul of the GOP.

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.”

Kinzinger will leave Congress at the end of the year after a round of redistricting made his reelection race more difficult.

Most of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump are either retiring or lost primaries. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the other Republican on the Jan. 6 panel with Kinzinger, faces her primary on Tuesday.

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.”