If establishment Republicans want to find a third-party alternative to presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump, Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) won’t be their man.
Kasich told CNN’s Anderson Cooper in a Monday interview that he had no intention of re-entering the 2016 race.
“I’m not gonna do that,” he said. “I gave it my best where I am. I just think running third party doesn’t feel right. I think it’s not constructive.”
Kasich told Cooper that “somebody” reached out asking him to launch a bid as an independent candidate, but he finds the idea “silly.”
“I don’t think it’s appropriate,” he said. “I just don’t think it would be the right thing to do.”
Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol, Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE), former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and a handful of other GOPers have openly called for an independent candidate to join the race and help defeat Trump.
The New York mogul became the presumptive nominee after securing a landslide victory in the Indiana Republican primary, forcing both Kasich and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) to end their campaigns.
