When Steve Pink’s The Last Republican premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, audiences and critics alike welcomed the documentary about former U.S. Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger.
Kinzinger, a Republican, voted in favor of impeaching Donald Trump in 2021 and later served on the House Select Committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, along with Democrats and fellow Republican Liz Cheney. The dossier, which follows Mr. Kinzinger’s final year in office, was likely to be depressing or controversial, given that Mr. Pink is on the political left and Mr. Kinzinger is a conservative who loves Reagan. But instead, Pink, best known for directing “Hot Tub Time Machine,” has achieved the impossible and created an engaging and humorous political documentary that proves that bipartisan civil debate is possible even in an era of political division.
In the run-up to the 2024 presidential election, the film has become a major screening target at film festivals such as the Camden International Film Festival in Maine and the Chicago International Film Festival. But streamers avoided the film despite its powerful and hopeful message that Americans on both sides of the political spectrum can engage in civil discussion even as sectarianism tears the country apart.
So Pink did what most documentary filmmakers do these days and self-distributed the doc to all major digital platforms and streaming services. After its U.S. release on Oct. 29, “The Last Republican” became Apple TV’s number one documentary. With backing from Meidas Studios, the film made a mid-six-figure profit.
Variety spoke with Pink and Kinzinger about Trump, Jeffrey Epstein, and the possibility of a Republican civil war.
What expectations do you have for the movie that will be released now?
Kinzinger: Before the 2024 election, when this movie was showing at film festivals, I had a certain feeling while watching this movie. When the election is over, you have a completely different feeling, and that different feeling is like a little bit of sadness or a bad feeling. I’m like, “Oh my god.” I can’t believe this is happening. ‘But it’s also important to be able to look at it and say, ‘This really happened and it reminds us that we basically need to fight seriously.’ So I don’t think the timing could be better. I hope this movie can, to some degree, motivate people again 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, you’ve been very vocal since Trump was re-elected that he did something wrong. Has he been following you?
Kinzinger: Let me give you a little inside story. Every time I met Trump, he was obsessed with me. In 2016, I did not support him. I didn’t even vote for him. He knew about it and was furious about it. He told our state party chairman, “Tell Adam to leave himself.” And in 2016 he won, and then in March I went to the Oval Office, and I thought he was going to chew me out. So I go to the Oval Office and he just looks at me and says, “You’re great on TV.” His attention was on me. Now, I’m not saying this to say “I’m cool” or to brag. He knew I wasn’t completely into him and that’s what made me into him. Because when you’re a narcissist, you have to convince everyone. I think of it like when a teenage boy asks a girl out on a date or prom and she says no. You’ll want to hang out with her more. That’s what Donald Trump does. So has he been following me? yes. He attacks me verbally. Not much, but he is. They haven’t come after me for anything else, and if they did I’d double down and do worse to them.
Nearly a year has passed since Trump became president. Can you see his MAGA base spinning at all?
Kinzinger: Hardcore MAGA people, I would love to see them all wake up, find a religion, and switch. Obviously, that’s not going to happen. When we’re dealing with a country that is so tightly divided, if you can just move that margin a little bit, that’s what we saw in Virginia and New Jersey.
Do you think the Jeffrey Epstein files being released will affect Trump’s presidency?
Kinzinger: So something like the Epstein file, you honestly can’t use the CIA truth serum and say that Donald Trump isn’t in it. Now it’s clear he’s in it. So everyone has to think in their soul, “Am I going to protect child sex traffickers or their associates?” Some people can’t do that. Some people can. So I think the continued economic hardship, such as the $40 billion bailout for Argentina, is what is causing people to turn. I also think that the moment it becomes clear that Donald Trump is not going to run again, which isn’t really the case, there will then be a civil war within the (Republican) party in terms of who will be his successor.
Do you think you would run again?
Kinzinger: It’s not 2026, but I welcome it. I don’t want anyone to think that what I’m saying now has anything to do with my desire to run for office again. People tend to think that way about politicians. But I still have a burning desire to do something, so I’m definitely going to keep it open, but not as a Republican. That party is gone.
PINK: But what if they go back to being a Mitt Romney-level party?
Kinzinger: The hard part is that you end up empowering people who have empowered dictators and potentially human traffickers. I like Mitt Romney’s policies. He’s a good guy, but at the end of the day, when you elect someone as president, you elect everything around that person. But the big question right now is: Are Democrats willing to become a big tent? That doesn’t mean Democrats have to become Republicans. For example, I’m in Texas. Perhaps we need someone more conservative than most Democrats in statewide office. But what does that give you? For example, let’s say there’s a Democrat from Texas who is pro-Second Amendment. That doesn’t matter. What matters is who they vote for as their leader. So that’s a big question for Democrats. I think they’re trying to get over it now.
In the document, you make fun of Steve for being so far-left that he is “basically a communist.” What do you think of Steve’s politics now?
I think Steve and I probably agree on more things than we let on. At this point, I don’t care about people’s political beliefs on the issue. The only thing I care about is whether you’re going to be in the trenches with me to protect democracy, and Steve is. What I learned is that I always knew this, but now I can put it into words. It’s not so much that I enjoy people saying yes to everything I say, but that I enjoy being around people who are different from me and have different opinions. I mean, how fun is it to sit down and have a beer with someone who’s like, “I agree.” I agree. I agree. ‘It’s more fun to find and get to know people who have a different perspective. Steve and I developed a truly genuine friendship.
