Samantha Bee seeks to unmask GOP 'so-called moderate' John Kasich as stealth anti-abortion hardliner

Sam Bee takes a hard look at John Kasich, sees a stealth conservative

(Image credit: Full Frontal)

last updated 23 February 2016

The South Carolina primary knocked Jeb Bush out of the Republican presidential race, but there's still one candidate who's not supposed to be "bonkers," Samantha Bee said on Monday's Full Frontal. The last reputed moderate standing, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, "pours on the Midwestern charm thicker than cream-of-mushroom soup on a casserole," she said, teeing up a folksy highlight reel. "But is Kasich really the huggable moderate he's made out to be?" she asked in a clunky and ham-fisted attempt at foreshadowing.

For the next three minutes, Bee took a closer look at Kasich's moderate answers on gay rights and abortion, then matched them up with his actions in Ohio. She found a mismatch, and apparently a carefully constructed one. "Now, if you live outside Ohio, you don't hear much about Kasich's anti-choice record, because he hides his abortion restrictions in larger budget bills, where they won't be noticed — kind of like a desperate, pregnant teenager buying ever-larger sweatshirts," she said. She finished by either warning moderates to not be fooled by Kasich or, perversely, trying to sell conservatives on his long-shot candidacy: "So GOP, take a closer look at John Kasich, because while these other chumps make empty promises to do awful stuff, the so-called moderate gets awful stuff done." Watch below. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.