John Kasich refused to be drawn into the war of words between Donald Trump and Pope Francis on Thursday.
At CNN’s South Carolina Republican town hall, Kasich simply said he was “pro-Pope.”
The Ohio governor was responding to a question about comments in which Francis said Trump is “not Christian” if he wants to deport undocumented immigrants and build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
“This man has brought more sense of hope and more about the do’s in life than the don’ts,” Kasich said. “This guy has been so humble.”
Trump will appear at the town hall later in the evening. At a rally earlier in the day at Kiawah Island, South Carolina, he said the Pope’s statement was “disgraceful.”
Kasich opened the CNN event by reflecting on a campaign trail moment that’s quickly gone viral. At a forum in Clemson earlier Thursday, a tearful young man confessed to Kasich that after suffering personal losses, he had gone through a very dark period in life. Now, he had found hope in the message that Kasich was taking to voters, the man told Kasich, prompting the governor to hug the man.
“There are a lot of people out there who are lonely,” Kasich told moderator Anderson Cooper. “Could you believe that young man?”
He expressed frustration with the frenetic pace of presidential politics and noted how important it is to “slow down” and listen to people in need.
“We’ve got to slow down,” the Ohio governor told moderator Anderson Cooper. “You’ve got to celebrate other people’s wins, and sometimes you’ve got to sit with them and cry.”
Kasich is coming off a strong second-place showing in New Hampshire last week, but with his moderate message, there is little expectation that he will have a strong performance here during Saturday’s GOP primary.
Jeb Bush will also attend the town hall this evening. The former Florida governor is campaigning hard for a strong showing in this state, bringing both his brother and mother, former first lady Barbara Bush, out on the campaign trail this week.
The town hall comes as Trump continues to hold a sizable lead in South Carolina. A new CNN/ORC poll released this week had the real-estate mogul on top at 38%, followed by Cruz at 22%, Marco Rubio at 14% and Jeb Bush at 10%. Ben Carson and Kasich were at the bottom of the pack, at 6% and 4%, respectively.
Cruz, Rubio and Carson participated in CNN’s first South Carolina town hall Wednesday in Greenville.
At that event, Rubio once again accused Cruz of spreading inaccurate information about his record. Cruz shrugged off being called a liar by both Rubio and Trump, saying: “Both Donald Trump and Marco Rubio are following this pattern — that whenever anyone points to their actual record … they start screaming liar, liar, liar.”