Ohio Gov. John Kasich said he might not run for president in 2020 after all, saying he could be defeated by President Trump in a primary.
“I don’t get into things that I don’t think I can win,” Kasich said according to reporting from the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “And I think right now, today, inside the Republican Party, I can’t beat [Trump] in a primary.”
The lame-duck governor has been rumored to launch a primary challenge to Trump or kick off a long-shot campaign as an independent. Kasich has also been positioning himself as an option for the GOP in the event Trump doesn’t seek re-election.
The two-term Republican governor and former congressman from the Columbus area has blasted his party in the Trump era for seemingly turning its back on traditional conservatism such as being hawkish national debt and for being “anti-trade” and “anti-immigrant.”
According to Kasich’s book, Two Paths: America Divided or United, the governor was approached to be Trump’s vice president.
[Also read: South Carolina GOP could scrap 2020 primary to protect Trump]
“The governor would be in charge of all domestic and foreign policy,” Donald Trump Jr. allegedly said. When asked what the president would be doing if Kasich was tackling all the heavy lifting, Trump Jr. reportedly replied, “Making America great again.”
Kasich was never bullish about a 2020 run, but he left the door open and often appeared on the Sunday shows rebuking the president. He ended his post-presidential race book with a note to his daughters, hoping they can vote for someone in 2020 who encourages them to “dream bigly.”
“I want to do everything I possibly can to ensure that when you fill out your first presidential ballots, you can vote for a candidate who inspires you, who challenges you, who encourages all Americans to think freely and to dream bigly and to celebrate our differences.”
A massive roster of up to 45 Democrats are vying to challenge Trump in 2020, including former Vice President Joe Biden and Sens. Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Sherrod Brown.
