Former Ohio Governor John Kasich (R) criticized former President Trump’s attacks on Vice President Harris, saying it was following the “same format” as 2020 and would probably result in the same outcome.
“If he carries on like this, we’re going to have the same format as 2020. If this becomes a battle of personalities — his and hers — he’s going to lose,” Kasich said Friday. In an interview “If it’s a battle of ideology and merit, we have a chance to win,” he said on MSNBC.
Kasich, who ran against Trump in the 2016 Republican primary, was a long-time opponent of the former president, breaking with his party to endorse Biden in 2020 and speaking on his behalf at the Democratic National Convention. In a recent interview, the former Ohio governor praised Harris for pivoting to economic issues.
“She’s starting to realize something that I think Biden should have done a long time ago, which is that people are not happy with the economy,” he said. “So I think she’s starting to say she has to take credit for that.”
The vice president unveiled his economic plan at a rally in North Carolina on Friday, which includes plans to end federal price gouging and expand the child tax credit.
But Kasich added that Democrats may have a harder time making their economic case because they’ve controlled the White House for the past three years.
“I think that’s kind of a weakness that the Democratic Party has, but Trump hasn’t taken advantage of it at all,” he told MSNBC’s Ryan Nobles.
“He’s gone off script because he’s tired of what’s important here. He’s very interested in the cheers from his supporters and everything,” Kasich continued, “but I’ve never believed that you can win an election by just going to your base and not reaching out to other supporters.”
He added, “That’s exactly what he did in 2020, and he lost.”
His comments come as even members of Trump’s own party are urging the former president to focus more on policy rather than personal insults. Republican nominee Harris has largely ignored criticism from her allies, insisting she is “right” to attack him.
“In terms of the personal attacks, I’m very angry about what she’s done to the country,” Trump said Thursday. “I think I’m entitled to the personal attacks. I don’t have much respect for her. I don’t have much respect for her intelligence, and I think she’d be a terrible president.”
