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Republican John Kasich supports Trump impeachment

Saturday, 19 October 2019 4:49 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 19 October 2019 4:55 PM ]

This image taken on November 2, 2018 in Columbus, Ohio shows then- Governor and 2016 Republican Presidential candidate John Kasich. (Photo by AFP)

Former Ohio Governor Republican John Kasich has said he would support President Donald Trump's impeachment.

Kasich, who ran against Trump in the 2016 Republican primary, said Friday that he supports impeaching the president.

He said acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney’s comments indicating the Trump administration held up aid to Ukraine was breaking point in his view on impeaching Trump.

“I heard what Mulvaney said, the chief of staff of the president, it pushed me really across the Rubicon,” Kasich said.

“And I’ll tell you why. Withholding military aid, vital military aid to a nation like Ukraine which has Russian troops inside its territory, that’s threatened all the time, that withholding it so that a political operation can take place — investigate this thing around the server, and we’re going to withhold the aid before you do that — to me it’s totally inappropriate. It’s an abuse of power,” he added.

"This is an extremely serious matter," Kasich said, adding, “this kind of behavior this behavior … cannot be tolerated” and action must be taken.

In an interview later with the AP, he declined to call for Trump's ouster, saying only, "Slow down, one thing at a time." Kasich said he wanted to see the articles of impeachment and the process by which the Democrats conduct their investigation.

"There's a long way to go and a lot of witnesses to see," he said.

He insisted that the Republican could not ignore Trump's behavior.

Kasich said it was "difficult to believe (Republicans) think they can look the other way on these things."

On his participation in the 2020 presidential election, Kasich said he hadn't yet ruled it out, adding that he still got requests from supporters on a daily basis to run for president.

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