Kasich on a brokered convention: ‘Everybody chill!’
John Kasich has a message for members of the Republican Party unnerved over the prospect of a brokered convention: Chill!
“I don’t think anybody is going to get there with the delegates that they need to win,” the Ohio governor said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “So, let’s just everybody chill out.”
Kasich, with 143 delegates, trails GOP frontrunner Donald Trump (678) and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (423) in the race for the 1,237 delegates needed to secure the Republican nomination. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio — who suspended his campaign after losing the primary in his home state — has 169.
If no one reaches the 1,237-delegate figure, the nominee will be determined in July during the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
“We will go into Cleveland with momentum, and then the delegates are going to consider two things,” Kasich said. “No. 1, who can win in the fall — and I’m the only one that can, that’s what the polls indicate — and No. 2, a really crazy consideration, like, who could actually be president of the United States.”
“The delegates will take everything seriously,” Kasich said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “They will take a look at people’s experience and their electability. And that’s fine. What’s everybody so panicked about this? Everybody needs to take a little chill pill, to tell you the truth.”
“I am not playing a parlor game,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “The convention is an extension of the process of nominating somebody. I was there in ’76 when [Ronald] Reagan challenged the sitting president [Gerald Ford]. They didn’t like him doing it either. But you know what? His vision, his message mattered. Listen, nobody’s going to that convention with enough delegates. And at the end, do you know why I’ll get picked? Because I can win in the fall. And secondly, because I have the experience and the record to lead this country.”
Kasich called Trump’s prediction that there would be “riots” if he doesn’t get the nomination in a brokered convention “outrageous.”
“When he says that there could be riots, that’s inappropriate,” Kasich said on “Face the Nation.” “While we have our differences and disagreements, we’re Americans. Americans don’t say, ‘Let’s take to the streets and have violence.’”
The Ohio governor said he has no interest in the vice presidential nomination should he not emerge as the GOP nominee.
“Under no circumstances,” Kasich said on “Meet the Press” when asked if he would consider becoming Trump’s running mate.
What about Cruz?
“No. I’m not going to be anybody’s,” Kasich said. “I’m running for president.”
And if Kasich does become president, he won’t be using as much confetti at the victory party as he did after his Ohio primary win.
“Here’s what happened,” Kasich explained on CNN. “[We] blew it the first time with a weak confetti shot. So, it was like porridge. He went from too cold to too hot. And all I can say is, I don’t want that much confetti again.”
(Tile photo: George Frey/Getty Images)
