Kasich: Women in combat ‘makes a lot of sense’

Republican White House hopeful John Kasich backed the Defense Department’s decision to allow women to serve in all combat roles.

“If women are capable of being in combat roles then they should be permitted,” the Ohio governor said in a SiriusXM’s “Town Hall” interview set to air Friday afternoon.

{mosads}“I think some of them have demonstrated an incredible capability to be able to serve as aggressively as men have, and so I think that makes a lot of sense.”

Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced Thursday that the military would open all of its combat jobs to women. While women had been previously allowed to serve in the majority of combat roles after decisions earlier in the Obama administration, the announcement lifts the restriction on the remaining approximately 10 percent. 

While many lawmakers praised the development as a long-time coming, other critics warned that it could hamper the military’s effectiveness or lead to an increase in sexual assault cases.

Kasich currently sits in eighth place in RealClearPolitics’s average of recent national polling and in fifth place in New Hampshire, which is seen as a do-or-die state for the governor.