Former House Speaker John Boehner has a message for former Ohio Gov. John Kasich: Don’t bother challenging President Donald Trump for the Republican ticket in 2020.
"There's this 38 percent of America that's very big supporters of President Trump. And you know, they're gonna show up and vote for him," Boehner said during an appearance on CNBC host Chuck Todd’s podcast, “Chuck Toddcast,” per The Hill.
Kasich, a CNN senior political contributor, has been a prominent critic of Trump’s on everything from tax cuts to the immigration policy of family separation.
Asked if Trump has done anything he agrees with, Kasich said border control, lower taxes, and higher financial contributions from European allies are all needed. But the president has set too negative a tone when he’s not wrong, with an overall “dismal” record, Kasich said.
“Tariffs are a bad idea. Debt is a bad idea. Family separation is a bad idea. Demonizing immigrants is a bad idea. And breaking down our alliances is bad too,” Kasich told The Associated Press in December.
He ran a failed presidential primary campaign in 2016 and is considering his options for 2020.
“If you’re not around the hoop, you can’t get a rebound,” Kasich said during an interview with the AP. “So we’re hanging around the hoop, and we’re very serious about this. How would we not be?”
“It’s not like I wouldn’t do it,” he said of a potential run. “You can’t be afraid to do it.”
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.