June 16, 2016

Ohio governor and former GOP presidential candidate John Kasich joined MSNBC's Joe Scarborough, in a one-on-one interview and told the Morning Joe host, "I'm a uniter, and it's hard for me to go for somebody who's a divider. It needs to change.”

Asked about his pledge to the RNC to support the GOP nominee by Joe, Kasich said, "Yeah, yeah, you know? It's painful. It's painful. People even get divorces, you know? Sometimes things come about that, look, I'm sorry this has happened, but we'll see where it ends up. I'm not making any final decision yet, but at this point I just can't do it."

Gov. Kasich has now reneged on his agreement. He did try to back track and say he hasn't made any finale decisions, but the pledge didn't come with any caveats to it.

The Ohio governor also told Scarborough that Trump called him, “Donald Trump called me, and he said, you know, can you support me? I said, we're like two companies, we have different values, different visions. Kind of hard to put that together. So, I'll send you my "Two Paths" speech. And, you know, either there's going to be dramatic change, or I can't find my way there. My message matters to me, Joe... I'm a uniter, and it's hard for me to go for somebody who's a divider. It needs to change.”

Later on he also equated Donald Trump to the dog killer, Michael Vick:

SCARBOROUGH: ...could you ever support a candidate that endorsed and actually promoted the banning of over a billion Muslims worldwide from coming to the United States?

KASICH: Yeah, that's -- right now I'm not.

SCARBOROUGH: That's a deal killer, right?

KASICH: Yeah, yes.

(CROSSTALK)

SCARBOROUGH: What about calling a guy from Indiana a Mexican judge? Is that a deal killer?

KASICH: Here's the thing, Joe, here's what I'm looking for. There was a guy named Saul (ph), and he was a persecutor of the people of our faith, the Christian faith.

SCARBOROUGH: Right.

KASICH: And, he was knocked off his donkey, blinded.

SCARBOROUGH: You really expecting a road to Damascus...

KASICH: ... And, then he became -- wait a minute. And, then he became Paul -- can I finish this? This is great. No, wait a minute...

SCARBOROUGH: ... Where is Damascus, man? What's Donald Trump's Damascus? He just turned 70, he's not going to change...

KASICH: OK, then if he doesn't change, than I'm...

SCARBOROUGH: ...He's told us he's not going to change...

KASICH: ... Well, that's what I'm watching. Nobody would have thought Saul would have changed either, and I always hold out hope. You know, Michael Vick said one time, he said we only have one chance to make a good second impression. But, unless it changes, you know, I'm not going to be able to get there. So, I'll watch.

SCARBOROUGH: So, the Muslim ban?

KASICH: Bad.

SCARBOROUGH: Disqualifying?

KASICH: It's not just one thing, Joe. I think...

SCARBOROUGH: ... I know, I know.

KASICH: It's got to be a number of things.

SCARBOROUGH: I know, but here's my -- my problem with what's going on on the Hill...

KASICH: Well, the list is getting tall. It's getting bigger...

SCARBOROUGH: ... It's getting bigger.

KASICH: Yeah.

SCARBOROUGH: When you go out and suggest that Iraq -- that American soldiers stole cash from Iraq...

KASICH: Or, you imply that maybe somehow the President is sympathetic to an act of terrorism. I mean, those are outrageous things. It's trending all the wrong way.

SCARBOROUGH: So, how does he -- how in the world does he turn that around in a way that that you...

KASICH: ... That's what I'm waiting to see...

SCARBOROUGH: ... And Republicans like me to support him?

KASICH: Well, I don't know. We're going to have to see.

Discussion

We welcome relevant, respectful comments. Any comments that are sexist or in any other way deemed hateful by our staff will be deleted and constitute grounds for a ban from posting on the site. Please refer to our Terms of Service for information on our posting policy.
Mastodon