Kinzinger: Trump claiming to be war hero 'just nuts’

Former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger (Ill.) criticized President Trump for claiming to be a war hero in the wake of the Iran strikes, arguing it is offensive to those who have served in combat.

"Yeah. I mean, look, this is just nuts. This is nuts. And they‘re going to find — his people are going to find a way to justify this," Kinzinger, a frequent Trump critic, told CNN's Erin Burnett on Tuesday. "Listen, when they were putting out something honoring the Army‘s 250th anniversary, they put out a picture of Donald Trump in his military academy uniform, which has nothing to do with the military except they drill you."

Kinzinger, who retired from Congress in 2021 and is now a senior contributor on CNN, was asked to weigh in on Trump’s recent remarks on “The Mark Levin Show.” 

“He‘s a war hero because we work together. He‘s a war hero," Trump told conservative radio host Mark Levin, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "I guess I am too."

"Nobody cares, but I am too. I mean, I sent those planes," he added, just months after the U.S. bombed three nuclear facilities near Tehran in defense of Israel.

Kinzinger, who served in the Air Force and was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, pressed back against the rhetoric but added that he hopes the president is able to facilitate a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.

“You can like what he‘s done. That‘s fine. I hope he gets a resolution in Ukraine," he said. "But to put himself on the same level of people that have actually gone out and served this country, not claimed bone spurs, is an offense to anybody who served."

“And frankly, you just take somebody that served, calling themselves a war hero, even that would be inappropriate,” the former GOP lawmaker, who said recently that he feels closer to a Democrat nowadays, told CNN. “For a guy that never served to say it, it‘s nuts."

Kinzinger added, "But somebody, they‘ll defend it, they‘ll find a way."

The comments come as Trump is looking to facilitate a Russia-Ukraine peace deal after meeting with both leaders and seeking another ceasefire in the Middle East between Isreal and Hamas.