Gov. John Kasich (R-Ohio) isn’t letting up on his criticism of President Trump, saying in a new interview that Trump’s inaugural speech “wasn’t helpful for the country.”
“It was a very unusual speech,” he told Politico’s “Off Message” podcast, which was published Tuesday. “And it wasn’t helpful for the country.”
“It just wasn’t good,” added Kasich, who competed against Trump for the GOP’s 2016 presidential nomination and is currently on a book tour.
Kasich added that he would remain in the debate over the GOP’s future
{mosads}“I have a right to try to define Republicanism and conservatism as much as anybody else and, you know, I think there’s a little struggle right now and I think the party doesn’t quite know where it’s going.”
Kasich suspended his White House run in May 2016, clearing Trump’s path to the Republican presidential nomination.
Trump secured the GOP nod last July en route to defeating Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in November.
The incoming president then vowed to halt “American carnage” during his inauguration in January.
“This American carnage stops right here and stops right now,” Trump said in Washington. “From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. From this moment on, it’s going to be America first.”
Trump vowed to halt radical Islamic terrorism during his address, pledging to “eradicate it completely from the face of the Earth.”
The new president also promised to tackle “the crime and gangs and drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential.”