Ohio Gov. John Kasich has fired back at President Donald Trump’s inference that he’s not being a loyal Republican by posting a video of Russian President Vladimir Putin cracking up in laughter.
On Monday afternoon, Trump tore into Kasich, who challenged him in the 2016 presidential race, alleging he is not throwing enough weight behind Ohio congressional candidate Troy Balderson, who Trump has endorsed.
Kasich quickly responded with his own wordless tweet of a short video of Putin bursting into a smile, then shaking in laughter -- so much so that the Russian strongman finally puts his hand to his temple and looks down.
The undated video appears to be a not-so-veiled dig at the Trump campaign’s ties to Russian operatives during the 2016 presidential race.
Those alliances are now being probed by special counsel Robert Mueller who is investigating Russia’s interference with the election and whether the Trump campaign had any involvement.
Last week, Balderson squeaked by Democrat Danny O’Connor in central Ohio's 12th district with just over 1,500 votes and election officials are now counting more than 8,000 absentee and provisional ballots.