Kasich says Trump's apparently political Arpaio pardon 'should be out of bounds'

John Kasich on NBC

"I wouldn't have done it this way," Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) said on NBC Sunday of President Trump's decision to pardon his long-time political ally, controversial former sheriff Joe Arpaio. "And it absolutely should be out of bounds for somebody to use that as some sort of a political wedge," Kasich continued. "It appears as though that's what it, what it was. It's not the way I operate here with the power to be able to give people a second chance. But the president has that power. I don't agree with what he did."

Later in the interview, host Chuck Todd asked Kasich if Trump's apparently political pardon should be subject to congressional scrutiny. "Paul Ryan, like you, criticized the president's decision to pardon," Todd said, noting Congresses past have scrutinized pardon decisions by former presidents and asking, "Should Speaker Ryan instruct the House judiciary committee to scrutinize this pardon?"

Kasich dodged the question, saying Ryan should focus on health-care reform. "Chuck, we've got enough problems," he said. "We have enough problems to start, you know, figuring out why he did this, okay. I don't know." Watch the full interview below. Bonnie Kristian

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Bonnie Kristian

Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.