ROCKVILLE, Md. - One day after Republican presidential candidate John Kasich embarked on a bold maneuver to block Donald Trump’s nomination, the New York billionaire lashed back, calling out the Ohio governor for what he said was the “disgusting” way he speaks to reporters while eating.
In what gives new meaning to the phrase “food fight,” Trump mocked Kasich at a rally in Rhode Island Monday, saying that Kasich “has a news conference all the time when he’s eating. I have never seen a human being eat in such a disgusting fashion.
“This guy takes a pancake and he’s shoving it in his mouth,” Trump said as the crowd responded with laughter. “It’s disgusting. Do you want that for your president? I don’t think so.”
Trump, who was referring to Kasich chowing down on Italian food this month before the TV cameras while visiting a Bronx food market, erupted with fury after Kasich and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz formed a temporary alliance to keep Trump from winning the 1,237 delegates he needs to win the Republican presidential nomination on the first ballot this summer in Cleveland.
Kasich agreed not to challenge Cruz in the May 3 Indiana Republican presidential primary while Cruz agreed not to campaign in the Oregon primary later next month and New Mexico’s in June. By Kasich conceding Indiana, Cruz has a better chance to win the state, where polls show he is running close to Trump despite Kasich being from next door.
Trump said the alliance between Kasich and Cruz shows the weakness of their candidacies.
“If you add both votes and you add up both delegates, they’re both behind me,” Trump said, pointing out that Kasich has won just one primary — his home state of Ohio.
At a town hall meeting in Rockville, a Maryland suburb of Washington, D.C., Kasich avoided responding to Trump’s accusations, telling a crowd of about 300 gathered in a community center that “running on the positive side of things doesn’t always get you attention.”
But Kasich spokesman Chris Schrimpf, in a clear reference to Trump’s assault, said “day in and day out, Donald Trump demonstrates why he loses to Hillary Clinton in every poll and why he would give Democrats control of the White House, the Senate and the Supreme Court.”
Earlier Monday in Philadelphia, Kasich dismissed Trump, asking, “What are you kidding me? Collusion? What does that even mean? Does he even know what that means?”
Kasich’s decision to temporarily ally himself with Cruz is regarded by analysts as either an eleventh-hour effort to keep his campaign alive or perhaps inject his name as a potential vice presidential running mate for the eventual GOP nominee. Kasich has consistently rejected the idea of being on the ticket as vice president.
“It’s a short-term alliance that seems to benefit Cruz more than Kasich,” said Jeff Sadosky, who served as a spokesman for a super political action committee that supported former GOP presidential candidate Marco Rubio. “That’s like trading away your star player for a first round pick in the 2020 draft. If it becomes a long-term alliance, that’s a different story.”
“These alliances to a certain extent are short-sighted in that voters have shown repeatedly an unwillingness to go along with what elites are telling them what to do,” Sadosky said. “To assume they are going to blithely fall in line and vote for a candidate they weren’t planning on voting for in the first place is somewhat naïve.”
Larry Sabato, a professor of politics at the University of Virginia, said the alliance between Kasich and Cruz “would’ve made a lot more sense if it happened two months ago.”
“Loads of people — loads of people — were encouraging this alliance between Cruz and Kasich ages ago and both were like, ‘absolutely not.’ And boom! Here it is. Indiana has a long border with Ohio. There is every reason to think Kasich will do well in those counties bordering Ohio. I’m not sure how this happens. It’s unusual. If it’s successful, look, it’s brilliant. If it doesn’t, the critics will have a field day.”
Paul Beck, a professor of political science at Ohio State University, called it “the longest of long shots,” asserting “it’s hard to see what kind of path is left for” Kasich.
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