Kasich: Trump a ‘mixed bag’ at this point
Ohio Gov. John Kasich said Monday he thinks it’s too early to fully assess President Trump’s performance, even as the 100-day mark of his time in office approaches.
In an interview with Yahoo News Global Anchor Katie Couric, Kasich cautioned that the president is still “trying to find his sea legs.”
“I think it’s sort of a mixed bag at this point, but I have to root for him the same way I root for the pilot on my airplane,” Kasich said. “I mean, we want him to do well — it’s our country, right?”
Kasich, who competed against Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, went on to criticize what he saw as his rival’s divisive campaign and declined to support him as the party’s nominee, instead casting a vote for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in the November election. Since then, Kasich accepted an invitation to the White House to discuss health care with Trump, but criticized the GOP’s ill-fated health care bill and the party’s approach to passing it.
“I don’t think it’s just him; I think it’s where the politics of America is today,” Kasich said. “They never gave a single consideration to including Democrats in a thorough discussion about how to improve Obamacare.”
During the campaign, Kasich often lamented the fact that American politics had become so polarized, and he doesn’t see that having changed under President Trump.
“They weren’t interested in bringing Democrats in, but the Democrats were sort of the same way. We’re operating in silos,” Kasich said.
“Now it seems as though party comes before country, on both sides,” Kasich said of the gridlock in Washington.
Kasich did offer Trump some practical advice on how to focus on the job at hand. “The fewer tweets, the better,” Kasich said, adding that the president should also turn off cable news. “I don’t think it’s good for him to be following all the news. … If I would advise him, I’d say don’t follow the news so much. It colors you.”
Asked if he was planning to mount another presidential run, Kasich said it was “unlikely,” but he was otherwise noncommittal.
“I don’t see what I’ll be doing, but you never know what comes,” Kasich said. “You never know if you feel a responsibility to do something, to run for public office again — I just don’t know.”
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