John Kasich, typically circumspect in his willingness to engage Donald Trump directly, attacked the GOP presidential frontrunner Thursday for his “implicit acceptance of violence.”
Trump’s public events have increasingly featured violent outbursts from supporters and protestors, and he cautioned that riots would develop if he were denied the Republican nomination. The Ohio governor took issue with the warning in a statement posted to Twitter Thursday.
“Donald Trump said there could be riots if he’s ‘denied’ the GOP [nomination] in a contested convention. That’s more unacceptable language. This implicit acceptance of violence is the kind of rhetoric that’s pulling people apart,” Kasich stated. “A true leader urges peaceful debate over violence. Leadership requires responsibility.”
Trump said later in the day that he would’ve won Kasich’s home state if he had just “two more days”. Kasich won Ohio on Tuesday by 11 percentage points, making him the only candidate to deny the New York businessman a primary state victory this week.
Ted Cruz previously held serve in his own home state of Texas.
