Sen. Marco Rubio and his campaign called on his supporters in Ohio to vote for Gov. John Kasich on Tuesday, in an effort to block Donald Trump from winning the Republican nomination.
Appearing at a press conference in West Palm Beach, Fla., Rubio told voters to back Kasich, echoing comments made an hour earlier by communications director Alex Conant. Conant made it clear that supporters of Rubio in Ohio should back their home state governor, just as supporters of Kasich in Florida should back Rubio, in order to stop Trump.
The suggested tactic is the latest sign that other candidates are running out of time to stop Trump, and willing to swap votes in different states in an effort to deny Trump another state victory.
“Yeah,” Rubio said when asked directly if they should back Kasich. “If a voter in Ohio is motivated by stopping Donald Trump and comes to the conclusion that John Kasich is the only one that can beat him there, then I expect that’s the decision they’ll make.”
“I can tell you that in Florida, I’m the only one that can beat Donald Trump,” Rubio said. “If someone supports Ted Cruz or John Kasich, if you vote for them in Florida, you are in essence voting for Donald Trump. If a voter reaches the same conclusion in Ohio, then I think that’s what they’ll do as well.
Shortly afterwards, however, Kasich’s camp rejected the idea completely:
Kasich spox Rob Nichols on Rubio news: “We were going to win in OH without his help, just as he’s going to lose in FL w/o ours”
— Kathleen Ronayne (@kronayne) March 11, 2016
Rubio dismissed questions about him possibly “joining forces” with Kasich ahead of Tuesday or any time in the future. And while some suspect Rubio would likely drop out of the race entirely if he loses Florida, Rubio has so far insisted he will win his home state.
The comments came after Conant made explicit to CNN that Ohioans should indeed back Kasich on Tuesday.
“I’m just stating the obvious. If you are a Republican primary voter in Ohio and you want to defeat Donald Trump, your best chance in Ohio is John Kasich because John Kasich is the sitting governor, he’s very close to Donald Trump in some of the polls there,” Conant said, making the same point for Rubio in Florida.
When asked directly by host Kate Bolduan if Ohioans should back Kasich, Conant answered in the affirmative.
“Yeah, I am,” Conant said, telling her and John Berman again that Kasich is their “best bet” to beat Trump in Ohio, arguing that it’s “indisputable.”
