John Kasich says he does not plan to vote for Donald Trump in November. (Getty)
In an interview on Meet the Press this week, Ohio Governor John Kasich again said that he does not plan to vote for his party’s nominee in November.
When asked by Chuck Todd if he has completely ruled out voting for Trump, Kasich said that it is “very, very likely” that he won’t vote for him. However, he didn’t want to give a completely definitive “no” in the same way that he gives a completely definitive “no” to voting for Clinton.
“It’s just too early to make a statement like that, but I’m just not doing it today on Meet the Press. I’ll do it when I want to do it,” Kasich said. “…I’m unlikely to cast that vote. The chances are minuscule.”
Todd questioned why Kasich is willing to shut the door on Clinton this early but not Trump; Kasich said it is to some degree party loyalty, although he says the country comes first.
Kasich made similar comments on CNN this week, saying it’s very unlikely he will vote Trump and that he thinks his actions have spoken very loudly.
While most of Donald Trump’s primary opponents have pledged to vote for him, including Marco Rubio, John Kasich is one of the few who not only hasn’t endorsed Trump, but has publicly stated that he will probably not vote for the candidate himself.
In fact, Kasich made his feelings towards Trump clear when he did not attend the 2016 Republican National Convention, even though it was being held in his home state of Ohio. Kasich has been making similar statements about not voting Trump since he dropped out of the race, saying he couldn’t bring himself to do it even though he signed a pledge to support the Republican nominee.
“We’ll see where it ends up,” he said back in June. “I’m not making a final decision yet but at this point I just can’t do it.”