Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich on Monday urged his fellow Republicans to condemn President Donald Trump for a series of tweets he sent in which he said a group of Democratic progressive congresswomen should "go back" to the countries they came from, The Hill reported.
"What @realDonaldTrump said about Democrat women in Congress is deplorable and beneath the dignity of the office," Kasich said in a tweet. "We all, including Republicans, need to speak out against these kinds of comments that do nothing more than divide us and create deep animosity - maybe even hatred."
Trump suggested the congresswomen should "go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came," even though all four are American citizens and three were born in the United States.
Democrats have widely condemned the attacks on the congresswomen, but the vast majority of Republicans have remained silent.
Kasich, who ran against Trump in the Republican primaries for the 2016 nomination, has been a frequent critic of the president. However, he has said that he will not challenge Trump in the primaries for 2020, as "there is no path right now for me" to win.