Trump on Kasich: ‘He’s taking my votes’

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump is calling on rival John Kasich to drop out of the race, The Associated Press reported Sunday.

“He’s taking my votes,” Trump told reporters in Milwaukee, according to the AP.

Trump argued Kasich should not be allowed to continue running and accumulating more delegates after having only won his home state of Ohio, adding the governor has no chance of securing the nomination. He said even if he drops out of the race now, he could ask to be considered at the GOP convention in July.

“Kasich shouldn’t be allowed to continue, and the [Republican National Committee] shouldn’t allow him to continue,” Trump told reporters, according to The New York Times.

“Rand Paul could’ve stayed in and he had nothing, Marco Rubio could have stayed in, Jeb Bush could have stayed in. … They all could have stayed in. They could have just stayed in. That’s all he’s doing.”

Trump said he told officials at the Republican National Committee — including Chairman Reince Priebus — about his concerns. He said he told the RNC it’s “very unfair.”

“I said, ‘Why is a guy allowed to run?’” Trump said. “All he’s doing is just, he goes from place to place, and loses, and he keeps on running.”

Kasich spokesman Chris Schrimpf said Trump should drop out ahead of the convention.

“Ted Cruz also has no possibility of accumulating enough delegates and Trump also will not receive a majority of delegates before the convention,” Schrimpf said, according to The New York Times. 

“Since he thinks it’s such a good idea, we look forward to Trump dropping out before the convention. Trump living up to his own self-declared standard is best for the party since he will lose the White House by a historic margin to Hillary Clinton and also cause Republicans to lose control of the Senate.”

Kasich said earlier Sunday he is expecting a contested convention and thinks he has a good chance of becoming the Republican nominee. 

“I believe that a convention will look at somebody like me, and that’s why I think I’m going to be the nominee,” the Ohio governor said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday.

He said he expects he’ll continue gaining momentum. He added that is beating Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton in head-to-head match-ups in “virtually every poll.”

This post was updated at 8:59 p.m.