Politics

John Kasich: CNN Needs To ‘Move On’ From Trump’s Comments And Focus On Real Issues [VIDEO]

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Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a staunch critic of President Trump, said Friday that the media needs to “move on” Trump’s crude comments about Haiti and African countries and focus on real issues that affect Americans.

Trump ignited a media firestorm on Thursday by reportedly telling lawmakers in private that America doesn’t need more Haitian immigrants and referring to African countries as “shithole countries.” Kasich appeared on CNN’s “The Lead” with Jake Tapper Friday afternoon and grew frustrated with the constant focus on Trump’s comments, which he compared to reality TV.

Tapper asked Kasich several pointed questions about Trump’s comments, at one point running through Trump’s history of racially controversial comments and asking Kasich “what it would take” for him to call Trump racist. Kasich noted that he’s been a fierce critic of the president but declined to call him racist, saying, “I’m not a name-caller. What would it take? I’m not into name-calling.”

Tapper asked Kasich if he thought Congress should censure the president for his comments, prompting Kasich to tear into the media’s focus on Trump’s comments

“We need to move on, Jake. Look, I’ll be honest with you, I understand clicks, hits, ratings in television, okay? Everybody’s had their say. Hopefully we’ll see some more out of Republicans. Maybe the president will say something, apologize or whatever. We’ve got to move on. We have big issues out there. We’re facing maybe the closing of the government. We’ve got a situation where we’ve got to take care of these other folks,” Kasich said.

“Everybody, you know, this is a time for everybody to pound somebody. I’ve never been a big one on pounding somebody when they’re down, other than to say that was wrong and I think what the president said was wrong. I don’t have any more to say about it other than this.”

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