Look Who’s Proud of Party Disunity

Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday did nothing but stoke the flames of the mainstream media’s apoplectic narrative of late. As this line of thinking goes, Republican disunity is rampant as the GOP settles into general election mode, or tries to, now that the convention is in the rearview mirror.

Kasich, who refused to attend or participate in the Republican National Convention that was held in his own state last month, has firmly declined to endorse Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Kasich has also done little to promote GOP unity behind Trump or to encourage a solidified front against Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton — all of which endangers his own party come November.

“If I wasn’t prepared to endorse a nominee, I just thought it was inappropriate to go into that convention hall,” Kasich said.

In the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll, Clinton now has an eight-point lead over Trump, “aided by a consolidation of support among Democrats and a failure so far by Republicans to rally equally behind their nominee,” The Washington Post noted along with the new poll results.

“I’ve had a lot of people pound on me about ‘you need to do this, this is about the party,'” Kasich told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “And I love my party, but I love my country. And I have to be true to myself. I wish that I could be fully enthusiastic. I can’t be.”

Kasich received significant backlash after his glaring absence from the RNC was interpreted as a slight against both Trump and the governor’s own party.

“If I wasn’t prepared to go there and get up and endorse a nominee, I just thought it was inappropriate to go into that convention hall,” Kasich said weakly. “Some people are really furious with me about that. But I did what I thought I needed to do … Believe it or not, I wanted to show respect to the nominee.”

When Tapper pressed him further about his plans to endorse or not endorse Trump before the November 8 election, Kasich remained cagey and noncommittal — although he made it perfectly clear he would not support Clinton.

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“I don’t know what’s going to happen at the end,” Kasich said. “There’s so much water over the dam now, it’s become increasingly difficult. But I want, you know, unifying.”

But how much does Kasich — and others like him — actually desire unity for the Republican Party?

Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake also reinforced his distaste for Trump during an interview on the CBS new program “Face the Nation,” saying his mind remains unchanged about refusing to endorse Trump. Even after meeting with Trump’s vice presidential candidate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, whom Flake said he respects, the Arizona senator stood firm in his opposition.

“I hope [Pence] has influence on Donald Trump, but I’ve yet to see Donald Trump change positions he needs to change,” Flake said. “I still hope to support our nominee. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to see that he’s going to make the changes that he needs to.”

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Although GOP politicians such as Kasich and Flake continue to toy with the idea of giving Trump the chance to potentially earn their November votes, their lack of active support for Trump and for unity among the GOP in facing the Democrats only serves to passively help Clinton achieve her goal of clinching the presidency.

“A lot of Republicans get very scared. The elite media is 95 percent against Trump and doing everything they can to fan the flames of a panic. But the fact is that I think that this race is a long, long ways from over,” former House Speaker Newt Gingrich told John Catsimatidis in an interview that aired Sunday on “The Cats Roundtable.”

“Hillary has enormous liabilities … It is a period of turmoil,” Gingrich also said.

He also said that although Trump has weathered a couple of difficult post-RNC weeks filled with several controversies, he could still clinch the November election. “Trump has had a tough two weeks, but people need to remember, just before those two weeks, he was ahead in every poll, so the chance for him to bounce back again I think is very real.”

Trump is set to discuss details of his economic plan on Monday during a speech to the Detroit Economic Club.