Ohio Gov. John Kasich is meeting with President Barack Obama to discuss the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal and says he welcomes any political "backlash" that comes from their meeting.
In an interview on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360," Kasich told Dana Bash he "welcomes the fact that people will criticize me for putting my country ahead of my party. It's time we start doing this in this country. We are not a parliamentary system, and we were never taught to hate people because they may be in a different political party.
"When it comes to the president, we have a lot of disagreements," Kasich continued.
"But there are areas where we can agree, and if I can become someone in the front, that leads an effort for people to hear this and say, 'You know what, maybe he's right,' what would I do? Shrink? Go hide somewhere?"
According to CNN, Kasich would be meeting in support of the deal with the U.S. and 11 nations, a plan that Obama has pitched as a way to counteract China's influence in the region.
Others at the meeting will include former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, George W. Bush's former Treasury secretary Hank Paulson, and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed.
Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have come out against the Trans-Pacific Partnership, with Trump saying the deal would "rape of our country."
And Clinton in August saying she "opposes it now, I'll oppose it after the election, and I'll oppose it as president."
When Kasich was asked how he could work out a plan with Obama when the candidates from both parties are against it, he replied: "Because I'm an optimist and I know that facts matter."
Kasich says he wants to argue for the deal, not against the presidential nominees. "I don't think I need to spend my time arguing with the nominees.
"I think I need to spend my time making the case that we don't want to hurt United States national security issue(s), we don't want to turn our back over there, and, frankly, we don't want to put ourselves in a position where we're not taking advantage of economic opportunities," he added.
The Ohio governor thinks the partnership is "a good choice for America to be able to make sure that we can move our products around the world." The Republican Party's support for free trade may be changing "with some," but he supports it and says he is' "not prepared to walk away from that. It's worth fighting over."
Although Kasich has not endorsed Trump, he says he will "not [be] voting for Hillary."
When asked if he had decided on who he'll be voting for, Kasich replied, "I'll let everybody know. But I think my actions have spoken very loudly, louder than even my words."
However, voting for Trump was "very unlikely. Too much water under the bridge."
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