Donald Trump's statements on abortion and other controversial issues over the past 24 hours show he's "not ready" to become president, as the United States is facing "major challenges at home and abroad and cannot afford to elect a president who does not respect the seriousness of the office," rival GOP presidential candidate John Kasich said Thursday.
"On top of all his previous inflammatory statements, yesterday he proposed punishing women who receive abortions, attacked the Geneva Conventions and said he'd nominate Supreme Court justices based on who will look into Hillary Clinton's email scandal," the Ohio governor said in a statement.
"He [also] talks loosely about the use of nuclear weapons and of dismantling NATO."
Kasich said he has been focusing since the beginning of the 2016 campaign on uniting the nation while finding solutions to the problems it faces.
"I believe you can be a defender of life while respecting women, you can defend our country without alienating our allies and basic human rights and you win against Hillary Clinton without using outlandish rhetoric," said Kasich.
"As President, I will approach every day with the seriousness of purpose our country deserves."
Kasich, appearing on
MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program, said that with Trump's call to
punish women who have had abortions, which he walked back later in the evening, did achieve one thing: it united the pro-choice and pro-life groups, "which I don't know how he did that."
But despite all the controversy, Trump has "tapped into a frustration and an anger that people have, about 'my job is not very good it's not secure, my wages aren't going anywhere, and my kids got a college education and they're living in my basement,'" Kasich said.
The statements Trump is making are changing their minds, Kasich said, and he believes Trump voters are now looking his way.
Kasich said that as his campaign continues, he will keep up his push for solutions, including for a stronger community and training for jobs.
"We have 190,000 job openings in Ohio, 190,000," said Kasich. "Twenty percent of them pay more than $80,000. Our schools are not preparing our young people for jobs that exist."
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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