John Kasich said Monday that he would not mount a third party bid for the White House, putting an end to budding hopes that the former Republican presidential candidate would reenter the race.
“I’m not gonna do that,” the Ohio governor told CNN’s Anderson Cooper in an exclusive interview, his first since leaving the race. “I gave it my best where I am. I just think running third party doesn’t feel right. I think it’s not constructive.”
Kasich acknowledged that he has had a phone call with “somebody” who wanted him to mount an independent bid. Hopes from some Republican elites in stopping their own presumptive nominee, Donald Trump, have intensified as third-party ballot deadlines loom.
But Kasich isn’t having any of it.
“A third party candidacy would be viewed as kind of a silly thing,” he said. “And I don’t think it’s appropriate. I just don’t think it would be the right thing to do.”
Trump became the party’s presumptive nominee following his win in the Indiana Republican primary on May 3, prompting both Kasich and fellow GOP primary contender Ted Cruz to drop out.