John Kasich, who finished in second place in New Hampshire's primary election Tuesday, conducted a "one-state strategy," Jeb Bush said Wednesday, and "has nothing going on" in South Carolina, as far as he can see.
"I commend him for the campaign he ran in New Hampshire," Bush told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program about the Ohio governor's finish. "But he's not as conservative as me and his record is not as good as mine."
Kasich, he continued, is "not really focusing on rebuilding the military," which is important to South Carolina voters. Further, he pointed out that Kasich expanded Obamacare for Ohioians through Medicaid.
"Governors across this country had a chance to take a stand against Obamacare, and many did," said the former Florida governor. "Here in Florida, as a private citizen I fought for stopping the expansion of Medicaid and we were successful. Other states did the same but in Ohio it was expanded. He'll have to explain that down here where people want it repealed, they don't want it expanded."
Meanwhile, although Bush's super PAC has been targeting Kasich and Marco Rubio, he told the show his focus continues to be on front-runner Donald Trump, who "would be a disaster as our nominee."
"He's a gifted politician, that's for sure," said Bush. "The guy can capture people's attention. But you can't use profanity and disparage women and disparage the disabled, all the things that he does and not send a pretty negative signal to the broader audience that ultimately will decide who the president is. And a conservative needs to win the conservative party's nomination."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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