The New York Times followed around Ohio Gov. John Kasich in New Hampshire Tuesday and oddly opened Wednesday’s recounting of the day by detailing his use of a five-year-old girl as a political prop.
The piece begins by mentioning Kasich’s bewilderment — “the kind of surprise that only a politician can summon over three dozen people eating lunch” — upon walking into the Red Arrow Diner.
Reporter Matt Flegenheimer then explained how he began talking to a young girl named Sophia Bauer, “whose name [Kasich] seemed to hear as ‘Sylvia.'”
“How old are you?” the governor asked before tickling her. “Five? Are you going to be in first grade? Do you have a dog? Oh, really?”
WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 23: Gov. John Kasich (R) (R-OH) speaks as Gov. John Hickenlooper (L) (D-CO) listens during a press conference February 23, 2018 in Washington, DC. The three governors unveiled a blueprint for improved health care in the U.S. during the press conference. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Kasich reportedly led Sophia over to a camera and pointed out how “cool” it was before calling her “Sylvia” one final time and banishing her “back to [her] mom.”
“It was time to talk to CNN again,” the reporter cattily closed.
While Kasich has not formally announced a 2020 presidential bid, his Tuesday stop in the first state to hold presidential primaries is just the latest item on the growing, “he’s definitely running for president” list.
In recent months, he’s suggested that it’s time for America to “move on” from its Trump obsession and given his full support for new gun control measures.
WATCH:
Kasich presented himself in the 17-candidate 2016 Republican primary as a moderate, and his gun control remarks in particular make him look even less like a classic conservative, a fact he himself readily acknowledges.
“I think I’m increasingly viewed now as not just a Republican but as something different, kind of a hybrid,” he said in New Hampshire Tuesday. “I have people of all shapes, sizes, philosophies and party preferences that approach me.”
“But what does that mean? I don’t know,” Kasich continued before taking a thinly-veiled shot at Trump. “I’m on television, so all the sudden they want to talk to me. Television moves everybody up, right.”