In Philadelphia, he said that if the front-runner is nominated, Toomey’s seat could be at risk.
April 01, 2016
By Chris Brennan
Ohio Gov. John Kasich on Thursday declared Donald Trump unfit to be president and warned that if the New York real estate developer wins the Republican nomination, it would put at risk the reelection of Sen. Pat Toomey.
Kasich, speaking before a fund-raiser at the Union League, said a recent string of intemperate comments by Trump had pushed him to take that stand. He had previously left the political bickering to Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.
“There are things that you just can’t look away,” Kasich said. “At some point, frankly, enough is enough and something needs to be said. “
Kasich rattled off five Trump controversies this week: punishing women who have abortions; saying the use of nuclear weapons in Europe and the Middle East would be an option; claiming the military is reluctant to fight due to the Geneva Convention; complaining about the cost for NATO; and suggesting he would pick a U.S. Supreme Court justice who would investigate former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of private email to conduct business.
“It’s clear he’s really unprepared to be commander in chief, the leader of the free world, and to have a steady hand to try to get the United States back on track,” Kasich said of the Republican front-runner.
Kasich cast Cruz, now in second place in the delegate count for the nomination, as a spoiler in Pennsylvania who can’t win this state’s April 26 primary.
“I’m basically in a dead heat with Donald Trump ,” said Kasich, who grew up in McKees Rocks, near Pittsburgh.
The Franklin and Marshall College Poll showed Kasich shot up from 3 percent of support from likely Pennsylvania Republican voters in January to 30 percent in March, putting him within striking distance of Trump , who was at 33 percent.
Kasich, who can’t catch Trump or Cruz in the delegate count, predicted neither of them will secure enough support to win the nomination outright, sending the contest into an open convention in Cleveland in July.
Kasich said he is “extremely concerned” that Trump or Cruz at the top of the ticket in November could cost Toomey, a Lehigh County Republican seeking a second term, his seat and jeopardize the GOP majority in the Senate.
He was introduced at the fundraiser by Rep. Charlie Dent, another Lehigh County Republican, who said Kasich was “compelled” to speak on Trump ‘s “thoughtless and incendiary” comments in recent days.
Dent said Toomey faces trouble if the “top of the ticket is not viable. “
“That’s the hard truth,” he said. “That’s the threat. It’s not only Pat Toomey. It’s every other senator in a swing state that’s potentially at risk. “
The fundraiser was hosted by Bob Asher, a Pennsylvania member of the Republican National Committee, who said Kasich stuck mostly to themes of national security, the economy, and job creation.
“As long as he stays on those themes and does not get involved in all the other name-calling and mudslinging, then he will have a good shot at going to the convention,” Asher said.