John Kasich Responds To Trump’s Twitter Attack On Ohio Special Election With GIF Of Laughing Putin

President Donald Trump attacked John Kasich on Twitter on Monday following last week’s special congressional election in Ohio, and the state’s governor fired back in an unexpectedly witty way.

It started when Trump called Kasich — one of 17 Republican candidates for president in 2016 — a “very unpopular” governor who damaged GOP state Sen. Troy Balderson‘s bid to win Ohio’s 12th House district in a special race that was held on Aug. 7. The race — held in the district Kasich represented from 1983 to 2001. The race was deemed to close to call, with Balderson holding a slight lead over Democratic rival Danny O’Connor. As of Monday night, hundreds of ballots in the race had not yet been accounted for and Balderson was ahead by less than 0.1 %.

Trump claimed Balderson deserved full credit for his “victory,” and not Kasich because the governor had been “tamping down enthusiasm” for his fellow Republican, whom the president called an “otherwise great candidate.”

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Kasich responded to Trump’s jab by posting a GIF of Russian president Vladimir Putin laughing. The move was likely a way of reminding Trump how blatantly treasonous his relationship with Russia is.

According to a local Ohio television station, Kasich then called Trump’s Twitter post “laughably inaccurate” during a fundraising event.