Posted on 07/19/2016 5:02:00 PM PDT by jazusamo
Ohio Gov. John Kasich on Tuesday defended his decision not to attend the Republican National Convention in his home state.
Kasich, a former Republican presidential candidate himself, has refused to endorse Donald Trump
or attend the convention. But he did speak across town in an interview with the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce on the second day of the convention in Cleveland.
"That's not where I think I need to be in terms of what I have stood for throughout the presidential campaign," Kasich said when asked why he wouldn't just "give in" and attend the nominating event.
During the campaign, Kasich pushed back against harsh rhetoric on immigration from candidates such as Trump. Kasich backed a path to legal status and pushed back on the idea of deporting the millions of people in the country illegally.
Kasich avoided directly engaging with Trump, who was officially nominated on Tuesday. But he made clear that he has a very different posture on key points.
"You have to be a party that reaches out," he said, mentioning African-Americans and Latinos.
On immigration, he said, "It just seems like it’s a natural thing to do to be welcoming."
Trump’s and Kasich's staff have engaged in a fiercer back and forth this week.
Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, speaking at a Bloomberg breakfast Monday, said the governor is "embarrassing his party in Ohio" by not endorsing Trump.
Kasich strategist John Weaver shot back to Bloomberg on the possibility of Kasich serving as Trump's vice president: "A hologram of Abraham Lincoln could have come back and asked him and he would have said 'no.'''
But Kasich kept his remarks more positive on Tuesday.
He said that after the election, "We’re going to have to sit down and we’re going to have to think about what our party is going to mean to people in the 21st century."
Get on the Trump train, loser!
FU Ka-Sick!
POS who took Soros money. Any questions???
Chamber of Commerce-yeah, Kasich is right where he’s supposed to be.
O’Kay-sick, no more POTUS ambitions for YOU!
com pro mis ed
K-SICK is a whack job in need of serious meds.
Who?
“I skipped the convention because I am a weasel.” - JK
Soros puppet. No one will miss you.
Kasich’s just sick to death that he can’t have wide open borders and amnesty for all.
...and seals his fate in the process.
I’ll never vote for anyone who doesn’t fight to defeat Hillary.
By not supporting Trump he chooses to help Clinton.
Kasich joins the official GOP-e POS list.
HISPANIC Chamber of Commerce
On immigration, he said, “It just seems like it’s a natural thing to do to be welcoming.”
Is he dumb?
He also said “Trump doesn’t care about the debt”.
Just wonder what reality he lives in.
Is this where I remind the absent Ohio Governor, who IS in Cleveland but not going inside the arena (HA!), that he raised his hand in the first debate promising to support the Republican Party nominee?
No?
Well, I may remind him later that his promise by raising his hand was a big fat lie.
Exactly, well said!
What a jerk Kasich is! Trump was the only one on the stage taking heat about answering the question of supporting the nominee that would eventually be chosen. Kasich and the others promised to support the eventual nominee. Trump then said he would. Trump is true to his word, unlike Kasich. Kasich is a liar, no better than Hillary. So Kasich, how about reaching out to fellow Republicans before you start talking about the party having to reach out to others. Hypocrite!
Was his father a mailman?
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