Gov. John Kasich, R-Ohio, responded to increasing tensions at opponent Donald Trump’s rallies and was pressed on whether he will support Trump if he wins the Republican nomination. He responded, “It’s tough, I mean, but he’s not going to be the nominee.”
Over the weekend, Kasich said Trump was “getting close” to disqualifying himself from the nomination. “Let’s see what happens,” Kasich told Chuck Todd on NBC’s “Meet the Press” when asked what it would take for Trump to disqualify himself.
The Ohio governor further lamented the tone of the Trump campaign:
“Everything is negative. Everything is, ‘America's losing, and we're terrible.’ I mean, come on. Look, we've got our challenges. People are worried about the security of their job, they're worried about the wages, they're worried about not getting any interest in the bank, they're worried about their kids' future.”
Looking ahead to Tuesday’s contests, Kasich – who leads Trump by 6 points in his home state – assured supporters, “I’m going to win Ohio with the great support, I hope, of the Ohio folks here.”
Sen. Marco Rubio’s campaign has encouraged supporters in Ohio to back Kasich if their goal is to defeat Donald Trump. Questioned on if he would ask his supporters in Florida to do the same, Kasich demurred. “My voters are not like robots where I can say, ‘Go do something’, okay? How do you run for office and tell people to vote for somebody else?" the Ohio Governor said.
But would Kasich like to see Rubio win Florida? “I’d like to win Florida,” he protested, but “I don’t see that it’s in the cards.” Kasich also said he called Sen. Rubio to wish him luck in the Sunshine State, but was not able to reach him.
Asked if his team is coordinating with the other Republican campaigns in an effort to deny Trump delegates, Kasich responded: “No, no. I’m not…if it’s going on, I’m unaware of it.”
Finally, on his own electoral chances going forward, Kasich assured supporters, “Don’t be surprised if I go to the convention with the largest number of delegates.” He concluded that it is “likely” there will be “some sort of multi-ballot convention,” but, he continued, “You never know in politics…what’s true today is not necessarily true tomorrow.”
