John Kasich says if GOP can't be fixed, then he can't support the party
Ohio Gov. John Kasich said Sunday that he will no longer be able to support the Republican Party if it can't be "fixed" when it comes to certain issues.
"If the Republican Party is going to be anti-immigration, if it's not going to be worried about debt, if it's going to be anti-trade, this is not where our party can be," the Republican said in an interview on CNN's "State of the Union."
Speaking about the the campaign in Alabama of Republican Roy Moore, who won the GOP Senate runoff last week, Kasich said he doesn't support the candidate's views. Host Jake Tapper described how Moore has questioned where President Obama was born and has written that Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minnesota, who's Muslim, shouldn't be able to serve in Congress.
"I don't support that," Kasich said. "Those claims are...ludicrous and they're divisive."
Kasich said he's fighting to make sure "the party can be fixed."
"If the party can't be fixed, Jake, then I'm not going to be able to support the party, period, that's the end of it," he said. " I mean, I'm worried about our country and my kids' future. I am worried. But have I given up? Of course not."
The governor, however, didn't make clear if he would leave the party when asked if he would become an independent. He said in August that he has no plans to launch a 2020 presidential primary run against President Trump.