Gov. John Kasich appeared at odds with President Donald Trump this weekend when asked about issues the administration is currently dealing with. In an interview with CNN Chief National Security Correspondent Jim Sciutto, he critiqued some aspects of the president’s first month, but also suggested Trump just needs to “get his sea legs.”
On Trump’s attacks on the press
While Kasich warned journalists against sensationalizing the news, he also applauded the press, “for following the facts and reporting a story even at times when it is not easy.”
“It’s a part of America, and it’s a part of an institution that works to make sure that things have balance,” he continued.
On Russian interference in the presidential election
Interviewing from Munich, Germany, where he was attending the Munich Security Conference, the governor said some European countries are worried about Russian interference in their own elections, and that the United States should conduct a bipartisan investigation for the good of the nation and the rest of the world.
“If our intelligence community thinks we need to get to the bottom of this, I happen to believe that a joint House-Senate intelligence committee investigation ought to get to the bottom of Russian hacking,” he said. “Were they trying to influence our election? What’s it all about? What’s the bottom line?”
On the repeal of Medicaid under Obamacare
Kasich expanded Medicaid in Ohio, covering 700,000 under Obamacare alone, and is against this repeal. Nationally, 20 million are covered.
“There are 700,000 Ohioans who now get care who didn’t have it before — a third of whom have either mental illness and need to be treated, or drug addiction, which is a problem throughout the country,” he said. “A quarter of them have chronic conditions — they don’t even know it, and to turn our back on them makes no sense.”
For the full interview, visit www.cnn.com/2017/02/19/politics/john-kasich-obamacare-ohio.