John Kasich says if the Republican Party doesn't fix itself, he'll leave

Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) isn't ready to turn his back on the Republican Party just yet, but told CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday that he won't remain part of the GOP if it stays on its current path.

"If the party can't be fixed, Jake, then I'm not going to be able to support the party," he said on Tapper's show State of the Union. "Period. That's the end of it." Kasich, an outspoken critic of President Trump, wants the GOP to stop bending to the will of the nationalist wing, and for the "party to be straightened out."

The public is unhappy with Republicans and Democrats alike, he said, and they want a return to the center. "What I'm trying to do is struggle for the soul of the Republican Party the way that I see it," he said. "And I have a right to define it, but I'm not going to support people who are dividers." That includes right-wing Republican Senate nominee Roy Moore, who as a judge was twice removed from the bench for ignoring federal rulings and has made inflammatory statements regarding race and sexuality. "I don't run the party," Kasich said. "I can tell you, for me, I don't support that. I couldn't vote for that."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

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.