Ohio Gov. John Kasich said Thursday that he will not keep his pledge to endorse the party’s nominee unless Donald Trump makes a “dramatic change,” but he vowed not to join any effort to block the billionaire businessman from receiving the nomination at the Cleveland convention.
Mr. Kasich, who was the last rival to drop out of the presidential race and clear Mr. Trump’s march to the nomination, said that it was “painful” for him to break the pledge that he and the other GOP contenders made early in the campaign to endorse the eventual nominee.
“You know, people even get divorces,” Mr. Kasich said in an interview aired Thursday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program.
“Look, I’m sorry this has happened. We’ll see where it ends up. I’m not making any final decision yet. But at this point, I can’t do it,” he said.
However, Mr. Kasich said he wouldn’t participate in any effort to change the rules or make other moves at the July convention in Cleveland to prevent Mr. Trump from becoming the nominee.
He also said that such an effort was unlikely.
“It is very unlikely and I won’t be involved in it,” Mr. Kasich said. “I’m not out there to disrupt. I’ll have my say. I don’t even know what I’m going to be doing at the convention.”
During the campaign, the governor was a fierce critic of Mr. Trump’s proposal to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the U.S. until authorities figured out how to screen out potential radical Islamic terrorists.
Mr. Kasich said that Mr. Trump’s continued call for bans on Muslim visitors and immigrants was only one of the reasons he couldn’t endorse the likely GOP nominee.
“Implying maybe somehow the president is sympathetic to an act of terrorism. Those are outrageous things. It’s trending the wrong way,” said Mr. Kasich, referring to Mr. Trump’s recent remarks that called into question President Obama’s reaction to the attack in Orlando.
Mr. Kasich said that he explained his decision to Mr. Trump when the real estate mogul called recently and asked for the governor’s support.
“I said, ’Well, we are like two companies. We have different values, different visions. It’s kind of hard to put that together. Either there is going to be a dramatic change or I can’t find my way there,’” Mr. Kasich said.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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