Just dropped · Trial Balloon · Ep. 189
Navigating the Nonsense
“I’m pro-environment, I’m pro-trade, I’m anti-debt, I’m pro-immigration, I’m pro-NATO. And when I look at the party, I see it moving in a different direction. But I’ve always said I have the right to define what it means to be a Republican and a conservative.”
— Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R), in an interview with BuzzFeed, when asked if he’s still a Republican.
In his new book, Ohio Gov. John Kasich retells the story that Donald Trump’s son, Don Jr., called a Kasich adviser during the 2016 presidential race and asked if the governor would consider being Trump’s vice president, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.
Don Jr. said Kasich could be in charge of “all domestic and foreign policy,” and Trump would “be busy making American (sic) great again.”
Kasich writes: “He would leave the running of the country to someone else and keep his focus on the smoke-and-mirror aspects of the job of president, helping Americans feel that he was somehow making their lives better just by being at the helm.”
Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) said that Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) “should campaign for the White House in 2020, essentially calling for a primary challenge to his fellow Republican, President Trump,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
Said Schwarzenegger: “He should run in 2020, yes.”
Gov. John Kasich (R) “insists he’s not looking at another White House run in 2020. His closest allies say the same,” Politico reports.
“But the prominent Trump adversary is publishing a book titled after a prominent 2016 speech he gave opposing Donald Trump: Two Paths: America Divided or United. Almost immediately after it’s released later this month, he plans to return to the early voting state of New Hampshire during his book tour.”
“Between that and a series of aggressive political moves embarked on by Kasich and his advisors, the whispers among Republican insiders about a possible primary challenge to the president won’t go away no matter how hard he tries to dismiss them.”
Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) told CNN that despite keeping up a high profile since his failed 2016 presidential bid, he has no intention of running for office again.
“The two-term Republican governor has continued to do national interviews, has maintained a political organization and has been working on a book — all moves suggesting interest in a future run. Kasich, however, emphatically denied this was the case.”
“I believe the political parties are disintegrating before our eyes.”
— Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R), in an interview on Meet the Press.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R), an outspoken critic of President Trump, is scheduled to meet with the president at the White House on Friday, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.
But the two Republicans are already disagreeing on who called the meeting.
“Kasich adviser John Weaver said on Twitter late Monday the ‘tentative’ meeting with Trump was scheduled ‘because the president asked.’ But White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer insisted Tuesday it was Kasich who sought the meeting with Trump – not the other way around.”
“Top political advisers to John Kasich have formed a nonprofit organization that will promote themes the Ohio governor pushed during his unsuccessful run for last year’s Republican presidential nomination,” the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.
“The move will fuel speculation that Kasich is keeping his options open for the 2020 election — perhaps as a GOP alternative to Trump.”
Coming in April: Two Paths: America Divided or United
Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) “is publishing a book this spring that outlines his vision for an America based on tolerance and inclusion, which is expected to draw sharp contrasts with the state of the country under President Trump,” the Washington Post reports.
“The book, titled Two Paths: America Divided or United, builds upon the themes of Kasich’s 2016 presidential campaign, when he unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination. Kasich delivered an uplifting, Reaganesque speech ahead of the New York primary entitled “Two Paths,” which was widely interpreted as an attack on Trump, then the front-runner.”
Cleveland Plain Dealer: “The call was part of Trump’s last-minute effort in what has become an all-out political war with Ohio Gov. John Kasich. On Friday, Simpson and 65 other members of the GOP’s state central committee will vote on whether to dump Kasich ally Matt Borges as their chairman. Trump is backing Jane Timken, a prominent Republican activist and donor from Stark County.”
“Kasich is calling committee members on Borges’ behalf. But Trump’s involvement in the intraparty battle is an extraordinary step for an incoming president and shows how eager he is to settle scores that date to Kasich’s failed White House bid.”
Politico: “A Trump transition aide said the president-elect had phoned around a dozen committee members.”
Gov. John Kasich “plans to give a speech less than 48 hours after polls close in this election, casting his vision for the future of the Republican Party after his vocal opposition to current GOP nominee Donald Trump,” the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.
“Kasich is mulling a possible 2020 bid for president, although he does not plan to launch that bid Thursday, the people said. He hopes to be a part of the conversation as the GOP takes stock after a possible loss to Democrat Hillary Clinton.”
Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R), who had vowed not to vote for Donald Trump, voted by absentee ballot for Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) instead, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.
“With fewer than two weeks until Election Day, Donald Trump is going after John Kasich, criticizing the Ohio governor for not backing him after the Republican presidential primary,” CNN reports.
Said Trump: “Well, it’s very disappointing. The governor was an opponent of mine during the primaries. And I understand, he took a, it was a very big defeat for him, he took a very big defeat and he went down hard. But he did sign a pledge and he didn’t honor the pledge.”
Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) is hitting back against Donald Trump’s claim that the election is “rigged,” CBS News reports.
Said Kasich: “Look, to say that elections are rigged and all these votes are stolen — that’s like saying we never landed on the moon, frankly. That’s how silly it is.”
“I will tell you that if the Republican Party does not evolve, the Republican Party is going to die.”
— Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R), in an interview with Business Insider.
Cleveland Plain Dealer: “For Kasich, the trip will be his first to New Hampshire since finishing second to eventual GOP nominee Donald Trump in the February primary there. Kasich so far has refused to endorse Trump, citing the New York businessman’s inflammatory rhetoric. He has kept alive his political operation to campaign for down-ballot Republicans in races across the country this fall.”
“By getting involved in a New Hampshire race and sending word that he plans to gather with his allies there, Kasich is signaling that he also is keeping alive the option to run for president again in 2020. The all-important Granite State traditionally hosts the nation’s first primary.”
Gov. John Kasich said that a “divider” like Donald Trump will have a hard time winning Ohio, an important battleground that could help decide the election in November, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
Said Kasich: “Ohio’s a snapshot of the country. People in Ohio want to see a positive agenda, a positive way to move forward.”
However, Kasich said he would not actively campaign against Trump: “I don’t want to do that; that’s not my interest. And we’ll see what happens in the future. But right now, there’s just too many differences.”
BuzzFeed: “Despite months of public tension between the Trump and Kasich camps, the governor’s loyalists in Ohio had been making plans for the state party to unify and coordinate with the Trump campaign, according to two sources with knowledge of the effort. One of the governor’s key strategists had been tapped to coordinate get-out-the-vote efforts with Trump, and other Kasich allies were expected to follow suit.”
“But on Monday, Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort took the unexpected, and unprecedented, step of blasting Kasich to reporters in his own home state, calling him ‘petulant’ and ’embarrassing’ for his refusal to endorse Trump. Since then, ‘all the top political talent in the state has been called to the sidelines,’ said one Republican close to Kasich.”
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
More about Taegan Goddard →