WASHINGTON — (CNN) John Kasich said Tuesday he is tied for second place in New Hampshire because voters want a reformer, not a bully — a label he’s assigned to Donald Trump in the past.
“I think in the end people want somebody who’s going to land the plane,” he told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota on “New Day.” “And what I can tell you is I was involved in changing the welfare system, balancing the federal budget, taking Ohio from a devastating situation to a growth of 385,000 jobs, giving everybody the chance to rise. And I can tell you that you don’t get that done by bullying. You get that done with certain skills.”
Kasich, Ohio’s governor and a former Congressman, has repeatedly said that Trump will not be the nominee because he is divisive and voters want a president with experience.
“You need to know how to bring people together. You have to have a strong agenda,” Kasich said Tuesday. “Whether I’m the nominee or whether I’m president or not, if you want this country fixed you got to pick someone who understands how to move that system.”
Although Trump is beating Kasich by nearly 20 points in the New Hampshire Monmouth University poll released Monday, Kasich said doing well in the Granite State could take him to the general election.
“If I do well, if I’m a story out of New Hampshire — a big story — I believe I’ll be the nominee,” he said.
“What New Hampshire would do for me is give me the name recognition and people would get to hear who I am,” Kasich added. “But I’m telling you, if we come out of there strong, I believe we’re going to have momentum that could take us all the way to the nomination.”
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