Republican National Committee (RNC) Co-Chair Bob Paduchik recently blasted Ohio Gov. John Kasich for his inability to move on from his defeat in the 2016 presidential election.
Kasich recently gave a controversial interview with “ABC’s This Week” when he claimed that congressional candidate Troy Balderson did not invite President Trump to an early-August campaign rally.
During the interview, Kasich claimed that Balderson told him he “didn’t” invite the president to a campaign rally after Kasich pressed him on why he chose to get the president involved in his campaign.
Both Trump and Kasich backed Balderson, who is still fighting for a victory in the special election that was held early August, but reignited their 2016 rivalry. According to Bloomberg, Trump attributed the closeness of the race to Kasich’s unpopularity, while the Ohio governor responded on Twitter with an image of Vladimir Putin.
Balderson has stated that he was “honored” to receive the president’s support and “welcomed” Trump to campaign with him.
In response to the drama, Paduchik wrote a withering editorial that mocked Kasich as a “sore-loser” and the “antagonist-in-chief.”
The RNC co-chair rebutted Kasich’s assertions by noting that “thousands of Ohio voters at the rally and millions of Americans watching it on TV saw Balderson profusely thank President Trump for supporting his campaign.”
“The clickbait media became obsessed with the drama and Kasich succeeded once again in drawing attention to himself to soothe a bruised ego,” Paduchik continued, “calling Kasich’s actions not “just selfish, but reckless.”
“Undoubtedly, voters were confused by Kasich’s remarks. We may never know how many votes Balderson lost because of Kasich’s vanity. Moreover, the bizarre comments changed the focus of the campaign two day before Election Day,” Paduchik continued, before alleging that Kasich’s comments were “designed to hurt the Balderson campaign.”
“Why else go on national TV and create controversy that will obviously impact the election?” Paduchik stated. He later went on to call Kasich’s comments a “mistake borne out of his frustration with reality.”
“It’s 2018 but Kasich is still running for president in 2016. And he is insanely jealous. Kasich cannot come to terms with the fact that President Trump is so popular, he can come to Ohio and draw crowds measured in the tens of thousands,” Paduchik concluded, calling Kasich a “lame-duck governor.”
The result of Ohio’s special election for its 12th Congressional District is still being resolved. According to Fox News, the seat has been occupied by a Republican for more than three decades, and Balderson has declared victory over his opponent.
