“They did an organizational meeting in Iowa and 58 people showed up. Now, how do they get 5,000 people going to a rally and only 58 people showing up to organize? Explain that to me.”
— Gov. John Kasich, quoted by the Washington Post, suggesting Donald Trump’s support isn’t what it seems.
Gov. John Kasich “said while campaigning in Iowa on Monday that he had no knowledge about a standoff in eastern Oregon where armed anti-government protesters have taken over a federal wildlife refuge,” the Des Moines Register reports.
“The Oregon protest, which began Saturday night, has attracted national news headlines on radio, TV, newspapers and from Internet sources. But Kasich — a former U.S. congressman — repeatedly told a reporter… that he didn’t know anything about it. Then Kasich excused himself and headed outside to his vehicle.”
In a new ad, John Kasich likens Jeb Bush to things people haven’t thought about in years.
Gov. John Kasich told the Columbus Dispatch that he will push to change the way Ohio draws congressional districts.
Said Kasich: “I support redistricting reform dramatically. This will be something I’m going to do whether I’m elected president or whether I’m here. We carve these safe districts, and then when you’re in a safe district you have to watch your extremes, and you keep moving to the extremes.”
“So when I tell him things like, ‘You’re the governor now, grow up and act like it,’ I’m not being flippant. What I’m really saying is you really need to show your maturity … you can’t be flippant, because people don’t take it the right way. They expect out of the governor something more.”
— Karen Kasich, quoted by the Columbus Dispatch, on her husband, Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
The super PAC supporting Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s presidential bid is taking aim again at Donald Trump, Politico reports.
“New Day for America, which recently aired a series of ads against the billionaire, is following up with another attack timed to coincide with a campaign rally Trump is hosting Wednesday in Manassas, Virginia. The super PAC is mailing fliers to New Hampshire as part of an effort to criticize Trump’s rhetoric on illegal immigration.”
Gov. John Kasich took Donald Trump “to task again in a new advertisement that paints the billionaire businessman as too heartless for the presidency and highlights his recent mocking of a disabled reporter,” the New York Times reports.
Gov. John Kasich “renewed his attack on Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Sunday, slamming the billionaire real estate mogul as divisive and insulting,” Politico reports.
When asked if he’d support Trump should he win the GOP presidential nomination, Kasich refused to even entertain the idea: “Well, he’s not going to be the nominee… because, at the end, look, he may have 20 percent of the vote. But he’s got 80 percent of Republicans who don’t support him.”
Gov. John Kasich “launched an all-out offensive against fellow Republican Donald Trump. On the day that Trump is holding a rally in Kasich’s state, the Ohio governor is hosting two conference calls challenging Trump and his electability,” NBC News reports.
“The conference calls are just one component of a larger effort over the past several days to damage the Republican front-runner’s credibility among voters. Kasich is attacking Trump more fiercely than any other Republican in the field.”
Donald Trump went on a Twitter rampage after learning that a GOP group affiliated with Gov. John Kasich “was planning to spend at least $2.5 million on an ad campaign aggressively targeting the real estate mogul, whose four-month stint atop the Republican primary polls has alarmed many in the party establishment,” Politico reports.
Said Trump: “I want to do negative ads on John Kasich, but he is so irrelevant to the race that I don’t want to waste my money.”
John Kasich reversed course on his idea of a new government agency to spread Judeo-Christian values, the Columbus Dispatch reports.
Kasich said he instead would upgrade the existing Voice of America to “engage in the war of ideas’ against Islamic State. I don’t think you need a new agency, it’s really breathing life into something that kind of has become dormant. You don’t hear much about the Voice of America anymore.”
“As part of a broad national security plan to defeat ISIS, Republican Presidential candidate John Kasich proposed creating a new government agency to push Judeo-Christian values around the world,” NBC News reports.
“The new agency, which he hasn’t yet named, would promote a Jewish- and Christian-based belief system to four regions of the world: China, Iran, Russia and the Middle East.”
“I’m not going to change. It’s not worth it to me. Winning wrong is not winning in my mind.”
— Gov. John Kasich, quoted by New York Magazine.
Gov. John Kasich’s “attempt to interrupt his way into Tuesday’s GOP debate soured — getting him lots of talking time, but painting images alternately dour, belligerent and petulant,” the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.
“Stories panning Kasich’s performance dominated national political news Wednesday, the boos Kasich received from conservatives echoing behind the analysis. Kasich had previewed a new, aggressive approach two weeks ago — Kasich-as-usual, to those who’ve watched him as Ohio’s governor. But on Wednesday, headlines spoke not of Kasich’s dispatching of Donald Trump but of his repeated attempts to butt in to assert his more moderate views. And if Kasich slides in the polls as a result, he risks failing to qualify for the main stage in future debates.”
Gov. John Kasich (R) would eliminate the Commerce Department if he were elected president, calling the agency a “cluttered attic,” Bloomberg reports.
“Kasich would transfer many of the department’s duties to other agencies, according to a proposal released by his campaign. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, which accounts for about half the department’s budget and includes the National Weather Service and the National Hurricane Center, would move to the Department of Interior.”
He said the department is a repository for “hiding political pet projects, outdated programs, and agencies without a logical home” and “no longer makes sense.”
“Do you know how crazy this election is? Let me tell you something. I’ve about had it with these people.”
— Gov. John Kasich, quoted by the Daily Beast, showing his frustration with Donald Trump and Ben Carson.
A new Quinnipiac poll in Ohio finds Gov. John Kasich (R) has surged to an all-time high job approval rating among voters, 62% to 29%.
Gov. John Kasich told one female student at the University of Richmond that he was sure she was invited “to all the parties,” The Collegian reports.
While calling on another student, who was nearly jumping out of her seat to get noticed, Kasich said with a laugh, “I’m sorry, I don’t have any Taylor Swift tickets.”
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.
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