John Kasich says he's not taking votes away from Marco Rubio — it's the other way around

(Image credit: Darren McCollester/Getty Images)

published 2 March 2016

For those who think John Kasich is taking votes away from Marco Rubio in the Republican presidential race, the Ohio governor would like you to flip the script.

"Maybe he's taking votes away from me," he told reporters Wednesday in Michigan. Kasich came in second in Vermont and Massachusetts on Super Tuesday, and claimed he would have won both had Rubio not sent a "hit man" to discredit him. He didn't name the person, but The Associated Press reports that Republican Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado hit the campaign trail in Vermont for Rubio a few days ago, and suggested Kasich exit the race.

Kasich is moving forward with the belief that he will win Ohio on March 15, the same day Rubio will lose his home state of Florida. He told reporters that Rubio spent a lot of time and energy attacking frontrunner Donald Trump over the past week, but only had a win in Minnesota on Tuesday to show for it, and said the talk about him dropping out of the race should end. "Frankly, it doesn't even aggravate me, because it's just silly," he said.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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