Ohio Gov. John Kasich has a five bullet-point list of reasons why GOP presidential primary voters should reject Donald Trump — and he says he's airing it to demonstrate why the real estate billionaire isn't prepared to be in the White House.
At a news conference Thursday in Trump's hometown — New York state's primary is April 19 — Kasich took sharp aim at the party front-runner after mostly avoiding criticism of him during the campaign.
"I had to list five things that continue to prove that Donald Trump is clearly not prepared to be president of the United States, commander in chief, leader of the free world," Kasich declared at the outset of the news conference,
CNN reports.
The Ohio governor then tipped off the top reasons to reject Trump, which include:
1. Trump's comments on
abortion, "which would put women in a very difficult position. And we know that he has since moved to correct those in one way or another," Kasich said.
After Trump's initial comments, the front-runner's campaign quickly backtracked, saying only people who perform abortions would be held legally responsible in such cases.
"As a commander in chief and leader of the free world, you don't get do-overs," Kasich added. "You need to be able to get it right the first time."
2. Trump's stance on the use of
nuclear weapons both in the Middle East and Europe.
"You wonder about his hand or his thumb getting any close to the critical button that presidents are in charge of," Kasich said.
3. Trump's position on
torture.
"He says we should basically abolish the Geneva Convention, which was created to make sure that we had fair treatment for anybody who could be captured in war and that somehow we ought to abolish the Geneva Conventions and engage in, I guess, more torture, which doesn't sit well with any of the people who have served our country so honorably, like [Arizona GOP Senator and former prisoner-of-war] John McCain," Kasich said.
4. Trump's call to roll back
U.S. support of NATO, "to basically be abolished although I can't figure out what his position is today."
"I happen to believe that NATO needs to be strengthened and turned from basically solely a military organization into an intelligence and policing organization that can work across borders," Kasich countered.
5. Trump's call for
banning foreign Muslims temporarily from entering the United States.
Leading the world in fighting terrorism "takes cooperation. It takes restraint. It takes judgment. It takes experience — not wild-eyed suggestions," Kasich said.
The Ohio governor also slammed Trump's proposal to make
Mexico pay for a border wall.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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