The chief strategist for John Kasich’s presidential campaign on Saturday predicted that Jeb Bush’s campaign would come to an end after the South Carolina primary.
“For all practical purposes, there’s no path forward for Governor Bush,” John Weaver told reporters, according to the Washington Post.
{mosads}”There’s no state post-South Carolina where he’s not either last or close to last.”
Weaver was also optimistic that Kasich would do well enough in the state to beat out other competitors.
“We’ve already won there because how well we do is going to help drive somebody else out of the race,” he said.
“Our expectation is that, come early next week, after so many governors and former governors have run, that John Kasich will be the last one standing.”
The Bush campaign responded by lashing out at Kasich’s “classless” tactics.
“John Kasich is running a zombie campaign that exists only in 3 states in the hopes that he can gain some cache in the Vice Presidential sweepstakes,” Bush spokesman Tim Miller said in a statement.
“They do not even pretend to have a plan to earn the delegates needed to win the nomination. This is just a classless attempt to impact the Election Day vote in a state that John Kasich cut and run from a few days ago. We look forward to beating him here in South Carolina and moving on to Nevada, another state John Kasich has given up on.”
The most recent poll in South Carolina shows Kasich and Bush battling for fourth place, with Bush at 10 percent support and Kasich at nine percent.