Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) on Friday morning defended the 1995 government shutdown, arguing that government shutdowns are effective if lawmakers reach a resolution quickly.
“The government shutdown actually worked because it ended up, Brian, at the end of the day producing the first balanced budget since we walked on the moon,” Kasich told Fox News radio host Brian Kilmeade when asked about the 1995 shutdown and how another government closure could hurt Republicans.
“A government shut down will work if you can actually see your way to a successful resolution,” Kasich, who was a member of Congress in 1995, continued.
The presidential candidate did add that if leaders do shut down the government, they must do so with a clear resolution in sight, not for the sake of politics.
“If you are going to get into the business of a shutdown, you better make sure that you have the prospects of victory, not that you just want to make some point,” he told Kilmeade. “Because in my opinion, the American people will punish you if you are just playing politics or making a point that can’t be achieved.”
Congress is currently working to avoid another shutdown over funding for Planned Parenthood, which Republican leaders have acknowledged could reflect poorly on the party.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest on Thursday said that the “American people will judge the Republican leaders by their actions” if they do not work with Democrats to avert a shutdown.
Kasich told Kilmeade that Earnest’s comments show that the Obama administration isn’t “willing to be constructive in their negotiations with Republicans.”
“I don’t like that kind of comment out of a Press Secretary from the White House. It’s just not the way you can do things in this country, just dismiss the Congress,” Kasich said. “That’s just not the way to handle things. Let me tell you, if he was my spokesman, and he said something like that, he would be in my office, and I would tell him, ‘Don’t you ever talk like that again.'”
Listen to Kilmeade’s interview with Kasich here.
