Ohio Gov. John Kasich says he is “undecided” on whether he will endorse presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and says he would not accept an offer to be the vice presidential nominee.
When asked by CNN’s Anderson Cooper Monday if he would endorse Trump, Kasich said “I don’t know.” When asked if he’d take the vice presidential slot, he said, “I’m not inclined to do that.”
Kasich says he and Trump have “two different messages,” but says he will give Trump “more time.”
Kasich dropped out of the race earlier this month after Trump won the Indiana primary.
Kasich said he made the decision the Wednesday after the election on a plane waiting to take him to Washington, D.C., for fundraising and a meeting at USA Today.
One factor that impacted Kasich the night of the Indiana primary was the comment by Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus that Trump was the “presumptive nominee.”
Kasich said Priebus’ comments were “completely inappropriate.”
Kasich says he planned to continue in the race and to see how he could have done with fund raising.
During the interview, his first since ending his campaign, Kasich criticized some of Trump’s past comments and said a candidate cannot win in Ohio if they “polarize” people.
“If you are going to double down on negative,” you cannot win, Kasich said.
Kasich also said the race will be difficult for Republicans “if you bash Hispanics, turn off African Americans and alienate young people.”
The opinion of his family would weigh on an endorsement, Kasich said.
“My wife and my daughters have watched this. And if I were to turn around and endorse him, they’d be like, ‘Why Dad?’”
Kasich also said he won’t run as a third party candidate.
“I just think running third-party doesn’t feel right,” Kasich said.
“A third-party candidacy would be viewed as kind of a silly thing,” he said. “And I don’t think it’s appropriate. I just don’t think it would be the right thing to do.”
Cooper asked Kasich if 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney asked him to run as a third-party candidate. Kasich would not say who asked him, but confirmed that he was asked to consider it.
Kasich did not completely rule out taking the vice presidential spot if offered, but said Trump would have to change first.
He said for him to “get in the middle of this thing” Trump would have to “change his views and become a unifier.”
Kasich said that if he were elected president he would have worked well with House Speaker Paul Ryan, who also has not endorsed Trump.
He says it could have “changed everything.”
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