Ohio governor and Republican presidential candidate John Kasich had mixed messages on Sunday about his party's front-runner, Donald Trump, saying the New York billionaire "complains about everything" and has "toned down his rhetoric," but wouldn't say if he would support a Trump nomination.
"What Trump does is he complains about everything – these attacks on women, the attacks on Hillary [Clinton] not getting back to the stage on time, the attacks on Hispanics and Muslims," Kasich said in an interview on ABC's This Week. He added: “It’s a really good top of the story, you know, Trump is rising and everything. Wait until we start voting, and then we're going to know – we're going to know where people are."
However, Kasich also appeared to be defending Trump, telling host Jon Karl that he's shifted away from language that was a turn-off to many potential voters.
"I've been listening to him lately and you notice he's toned down the rhetoric," Politico reported. "I listened to your six minute coverage of him, and he's toning it down. And I'm just hoping that as we go forward he's going to be a unifier."
Kasich indicated that divisive language is a sure way to lose the White House.
"You can't win the White House without winning Ohio," said Kasich, The Hill reported. "If we have a candidate that comes into Ohio who is a divider, there's no chance they're going to win it. He added: “People in Ohio want somebody that’s going to look at problems and solve them – they don’t want a bunch of windbags.”
When finally given the opportunity to leave the Trump topic behind, Kasich said he was looking to be "the story coming out of New Hampshire."
"I have to do well enough there, Jon, so that I'm the story coming out of New Hampshire, and I think I will be," said Kasich, according to ABC News. "I will tell you, if I come out New Hampshire, people are finally - everywhere I go, people say you need more time on the debate stage. People need to hear you. I come out of New Hampshire, and as you know - you have known me for a long time - I'll catch fire, and if I catch fire, I think the sky's the limit."
