Gov. John Kasich took the stage at Ohio's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, steering clear of his party's national convention just down the street, and delivered a speech hinting at another run for the White House in 2020, if Trump is unsuccessful in November.
"I'm just a slob trying to get through the day and do the best I possibly can realizing I've got another chance tomorrow to maybe get it right," Kasich said,
according to Roll Call.
Personally and professionally, Kasich said, he has "never been more satisfied."
"I'm an optimist about America. We're good people. Believe that you can stand and make a difference in the way the world spins, believe that standing on principle and having ethics and integrity can make a huge deal." Kasich spoke to a capacity crowd, reprising his campaign stump speech.
While he was the
last of the GOP contenders to bow out, Kasich won only one primary, in his home state.
The governor's refusal to back Trump as the GOP nominee has caused contention between him and the rest of the party, and particularly among the candidate's supporters.
Kasich reportedly refused an approach from Donald Trump, Jr. about becoming his father's running mate in May,
The New York Times reports. The Republican nominee's eldest son told the governor that he'd be in charge of foreign and domestic policy as vice president, according to a Kasich adviser who asked to remain anonymous.
Trump, his son and his campaign declined to respond to the Times' attempts to confirm the story.
"He's embarrassing his party in Ohio," Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort told Roll Call on Monday, referring to Kasich. "Negotiations broke down," Manafort purported, explaining Kasich's absence, and blaming his campaign chief John Weaver for convincing the former candidate that he "will have a better chance to be president by not supporting Donald Trump."
Kasich offered his supporters in Ohio words of hope and inspiration.
"It is from this higher path that we are offered the greater view. Our strength resides within ourselves. The spirit of our country rests in us," the former Ohio congressman said.
"Not a word about Trump," Karen Funk of Youngstown told Roll Call after the event. "What a disappointment, because I think it will come back to haunt him."
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