WASHINGTON – Governor John Kasich minced no words in a television interview Monday night: He is not interested in being Donald Trump’s running mate, has not decided to endorse the Republican presidential front-runner and has no intention of running as a third-party candidates.
Kasich says his party will have a hard time winning the White House if candidates are “bashing Hispanics, turning off African-Americans” and failing to excite young voters.
He says he’s skeptical of Donald Trump’s ability to unite the party and Americans. He says he hasn’t yet decided whether he’ll back the near-certain Republican nominee, adding that he’d like to see more positivity and more consistent policy positions from Trump.
“I’m for uniting and I’d have to see him move to uniting,” Kasich said. “If he doesn’t, I’m undecided here at this point.”
“We’ll see what happens,” he added.
He said he’s not interested in being Trump’s vice presidential choice or running as third-party candidate.
“I just think running third-party doesn’t feel right. I think it’s not constructive,” he said.
He says he has told House Speaker Paul Ryan he’ll help however possible in electing Republicans in down-ballot races.