One of the most memorable candidates of last night’s debate was Ohio Gov. John Kasich — but not in a way that is going to boost his poll numbers.
Bloomberg Politics pointed out that Kasich received the second highest airtime of the primetime candidates — which may have been a result of his many interruptions and attempts to speak throughout the debate. Unfortunately for Kasich, the effort did not turn out in his favor.
Bloomberg reported that Kasich received the lowest amount of applause/laughter from the audience, at only five times. And, he was considered the audience’s least favorite. They even booed his response when it came to bailing out the banks.
The Hill also included John Kasich on their list of losers. He was actually the only candidate of the primetime debate to earn that title. All other candidates were in either the “winners” or “mixed” category.
Erick Erickson, writing for Fox News, saved a spot for Kasich in his piece, “The big winners (and one big loser) at Milwaukee GOP debate.”
Kasich did not win much support when he sparred with Donald Trump on amnesty. Trump, who was otherwise quiet when it came to his antics, shut Kasich down. “I’ve built an unbelievable company worth billions and billions of dollars. I don’t have to hear from this man,” he said of Kasich. And then for good measure he added “believe me, I don’t have to hear from him.”
Trump even told Kasich to let Jeb Bush speak. (It’s worth noting that Trump is not exactly cozy with Bush either.)
Just how much of a loser was Kasich? Pollster Frank Luntz said that his focus group gave him the least favorable reaction of any candidate. He was even described as “finished.”
One Twitter user responded to Luntz and said she stopped live-tweeting because of Kasich.
.@FrankLuntz I’m surprised it was that high. I stopped live tweeting because Kasich wouldn’t shut up!
#GOPDebate
#RebootLiberty
— Angela #1A #DefundPP (@angelacarwile) November 11, 2015
What’s worse for Kasich is that his debate performance may have hurt him with undecided Ohio voters, as Cleveland.com reported.
Those watching the debate took to social media to sum up Kasich’s performance. Facebook trends showed that him calling Trump’s views on illegal immigration “silly” received the most attention. There is plenty more to it though.
While Kasich may have been the loser, a lot of winners emerged on social media with creative comparisons.
“For the life of me, I will never understand how the John Kasich who led the GOP to forcing a balanced budget in the ’90s manages to sound like a homeless person ranting on a street corner,” said Facebook user Trey Mayfield.
Fox News host Greg Gutfeld also had quite the comparison.
Catholic Vote, who ranked the candidates using emojis, referred to Kasich as a “cranky uncle.”
As Cleveland.com pointed out, Christopher Schmitt, an attorney from Ohio City, compared Kasich’s antics to John Belushi’s line from Animal House.
Picturing @JohnKasich as Bluto – “Who’s with me! Let’s go! Ahhhhh!!!” and, like Delta Tau Chi, the audience gives him crickets…
— Christopher Schmitt (@ChrisSchmittEsq) November 11, 2015
Jonah Goldberg, of National Review, who live-tweeted the debate, had many choice words for Kasich. He saved perhaps his best and most blunt point about him for his piece on winners and losers:
The next GOP debate is Dec. 15, in Nevada. Kasich has a little over a month to prepare much better and harder for the debate, if he’s even still in the race by then.
