Former Ohio GOP Gov. John Kasich Accuses Republicans Of Being ‘In A Coma’

In a piece published in the Washington Post on Tuesday, former Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) said that the Republican party was “in a coma” because of a “willingness to only absorb that that supports what you currently think.”

“I think members of the Republican Party are in a coma right now, is what I think. And at some point they’ll wake up and say, ‘What’s happened?’ ” Kasich wrote in his op-ed. “And then we’re going to tell them, and they’re going to go, ‘Really?’”

“There’s a tribal instinct, and a willingness to only absorb that that supports what you currently think. Anything that is dissonant information should be rejected,” he said. “And I think it’s true for both political parties, to be honest with you. I think that we live in a siloed, tribal world right now.” He continued by claiming that the GOP is “stumbling around” as a result of “no new really exciting ideas … for a number of years.”

“I think that the party is historically concerned about debt,” he said. “They’re concerned about having free and open trade. They’re concerned about welcoming immigrants into the country … They keep going back to Reagan. Well, I knew Reagan — it was 100 hundred years ago.”

“They don’t focus on the issue of workforce training, of dramatic reforms in education, the need to address climate change — it’s like we’re sunk,” he added. “And then you add where the party is right now. I don’t even recognize it … I mean, it’s unbelievable.”

Kasich has long been an opponent and critic of Donald Trump, running against him for the Republican nomination in 2016. Some thought that he would attempt to mount a primary challenge to Trump from within the GOP, but he backed down from such a path earlier this year, saying, “there is no path right now for me.”