Ohio Gov. John Kasich said he still isn’t there yet on supporting presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump and didn’t rule out walking into the party’s convention in Cleveland next month having not endorsed the party’s standard bearer.
“Hard to say,” Mr. Kasich said when asked if he will support Mr. Trump for president. “If you look at Twitter, they have this called trending. It’s trending poorly.”
“Right now, the divisiveness, the division, the name-calling — it just doesn’t go down well with me,” Mr. Kasich said in an interview that aired Thursday on Fox News.
Mr. Kasich said he’s giving Mr. Trump a chance, but that “he’s trending the wrong way with me.”
He cited Mr. Trump’s recently questioning the impartiality of Indiana-born Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who is overseeing a case against Trump University, because of the judge’s Mexican heritage. Mr. Trump has said the comments have been misconstrued.
Republicans are holding their convention next month in Cleveland, and Ohio figures to be a major battleground state in the general election. Mr. Kasich’s lone win in the GOP presidential primary race came in Ohio in March, and the governor’s support — or lack thereof — could be a major storyline heading into the convention.
Asked if it’s possible he could walk into the arena in Cleveland and not endorse, Mr. Kasich said: “Absolutely.”
He did say he’s not going to endorse presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
“I said from the beginning that if somebody came into Ohio and they were a divider that they couldn’t win the state,” he said. “It’s not on me as to how Donald Trump does in Ohio — it’s on him. It’s on him how he does in the country.”
Asked what he thinks of the choice between Mr. Trump and Mrs. Clinton for America, he said: “Well, right now it’s not a really great choice. We’ll see what happens.”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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