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Fmr. Gov John Kasich says he ‘cried’ when Trump took 2016 GOP nomination

April 22, 2022 | | Print Article

Onetime presidential hopeful, former Gov. John Kasich confessed Thursday that the GOP’s nomination of former President Donald Trump brought him to tears in 2016.

“I was really hoping that we were gonna block him and that people were gonna come to their senses,” the Ohio Republican told guest Julie Bowen on the “Kasich & Klepper” podcast with “The Daily Show” correspondent Jordan Klepper. “But when it was over, we got off the plane… I went behind this building, and I cried. I had one cry.”

In this lightening-fast-paced world, life pre-President Trump feels to many like a lifetime ago, but if you dig back in your memory bank, you’ll recall that the run-up to the 2016 elections featured what was, at that time, the largest presidential primary field in American history, with 17 major candidates vying for the Republican Party’s nomination.

By March, only three candidates were left standing: Kasich, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and, of course, Donald Trump.

At the time, Kasich argued that Trump “is not prepared to be President.”

“The past 24 hours revealed in the clearest way yet that Donald Trump is not prepared to be President,” he said on March 31, 2016, in a tweeted statement.

“Donald Trump is not ready to be Commander in Chief,” the statement continued. “He talks loosely about the use of nuclear weapons and of dismantling NATO. America is facing major challenges at home and abroad and cannot afford to elect a President who does not respect the seriousness of the office.”

 

Voters disagreed.

After huge April wins in New York and five of the northeastern states, and a landslide victory in Indiana’s May primary, it became clear to everyone that there would be no blocking Trump.

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“Well, you know, I was there ’til the bitter end, and when it was over, I haven’t ever told anyone this, I was on a plane and we were going to do a fundraiser, and I could have done it,” Kasich confided to Bowen. “And I thought, you know, that’s not right, I know this isn’t gonna go on because Trump’s gonna have enough votes in the convention.”

His one good cry, Kasich said, allowed him to move on.

“And then I went to my daughter’s school–and that was really hard,” Kasich continued. “Then [my family] came out and gave me a big hug. But then it was over, and it was a wonderful experience.”

Leaving office and losing the nomination, said Kasich, offered the politician a fresh start.

But that isn’t to say Trump didn’t occupy a rent-free space in Kasich’s head.

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By February 2020, the “Republican In Name Only” Kasich was practically begging Democrats to run anyone that stood a chance of beating Trump.

“If Democrats think nominating someone who will: 1. Take away private health insurance for millions of Americans 2. Punish those who have achieved financial success — They will not beat Donald Trump,” he told CNN at the time.

And by February 2022, Kasich was again on CNN to discuss Trump’s “slowly fading” influence.

“I’ve been saying for a while now that Trump’s influence is slowly fading and we’re seeing that as more Republican leaders distance themselves from him,” he tweeted. “Unfortunately, that means his rhetoric is likely to become more extreme and divisive.”

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So, it would seem that Kasich’s fresh start may need a reboot… or, perhaps, a box of Kleenex.

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37 thoughts on “Fmr. Gov John Kasich says he ‘cried’ when Trump took 2016 GOP nomination”

  5. I was no fan of Donald Trump before he became President. Of the initial candidates, he did not make the top ten.
    Based on his performance though, nobody could make a good argument that his winning the nomination is the best thing that could have happened. If Kasich won the nomination, Hillary would have been the next and current president.

    1. Kasich looks like an unmade bed. Anyone with so little self-awareness is not a person who deserves even a moment’s consideration.

  7. I lived in Ohio for many years… In my opinion Kasichs is a spoiled little boy and an in bred moron….Go away

  8. Kasich is just back from the Democrat “Re-Education Camp” he attended with all the other pathetic RINOs like himself

  9. What a total P**SY! I’d be ashamed to have even admitted that if I were him. What a disgrace!

  13. I would have cried if Kasich had gotten the nomination. Huge RINO and huge part of the swamp!!!

  15. This idiot won only one primary and that was his own state of Ohio. Nobody wanted him. He should have cried for that and not the GREAT 45

  16. It just shows what a loser Kasich is….go sit down cry baby TRUMP got more done in 6 months than this cry baby would’ve in all 4 years. Kasich is no leader he’s a cry baby like mitt Romney

  17. When did that moron become semi-relevant again? I haven’t seen or heard mention of him since 2016.

  19. Yah, because he knew, as President, Trump would undo all of the crap Legislators like him enacted.

  21. I remember Kasich from college. He was a jackass then. He was a horrible governor. I cheered when we finally got rid of him.

  22. Kasich is like Boehner, a crybaby who didn’t get his way, wah, wah. What a piece of democrat excrement.

  23. Kasich was not meant to be . Never took to him.
    Doesn’t even live in Ohio . He had his moment of short glory .
    I firmly believe Trump will be back ,especially with fkjbiden screwing up everything he touches ,world demented clown .
    Mid terms will be a bloodbath for the donkeys .
    USA,Americans are angry, fed up that fjbiden has made life hard with his cheated 81,000,000 votes and mush for brains .

  27. This Ohio reject looks like he hasn’t stopped crying. He obviously has not done any of the hard work needed for his constituents. It’s time to rid ourselves of these crybabies for big bucks, and get someone who will work their behind off working for the good of the republic. It’s a crying shame to have these repulsive critters in office at any level.

  28. Kasich cried like a little b*tch, just like every other dem and RINO cried like a little b*tch.

    They knew their days of bullying middle-class America were over for the next four years.

    And if they hadn’t cheated in ’20 they’d still be over. Pieces of filthy liberal s***!

  30. Glad you didn’t come close to getting the nomination, RINO Kasich. We didn’t need a wuss in the WH. We have one now and he sucks and should be impeached.

  32. The truth is that former Gov. John Kasich cried when Trump won the nomination because Kasich is a swamp creature and he really doesn’t support the will of the people.

    Hey, Johnny…..the people spoke, quite loudly,in fact, and you bucked it and the results of their vote.

    You should be ashamed of YOUR actions post-vote, both as an American and as a conservative.

    You proved yourself unworthy of the conservative support you had over the years. Now, go somewhere and cry again!

  35. Born in Ohio. Kasich SUCKED for Ohio. Talk about a RINO! THATS why he didn’t get their vote. Or the governorship. Now trump has endorsed another RINO in Ohio for governor…Jd Vance. What the HECK is he thinking! Praying Ohioans DONT HEED TRUMP FOR GOVERNORS ENDORSEMENT this cycle!

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