Kasich: Republicans are in a ‘coma’

Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) on Tuesday said that the Republican Party is “in a coma” because of a “willingness to only absorb that that supports what you currently think.”

“I think members of the Republican Party are in a coma right now, is what I think. And at some point they’ll wake up and say, ‘What’s happened?’ ” Kasich said in a piece published by The Washington Post on Tuesday. “And then we’re going to tell them, and they’re going to go, ‘Really?’ ”

{mosads}“There’s a tribal instinct, and a willingness to only absorb that that supports what you currently think. Anything that is dissonant information should be rejected,” he said. “And I think it’s true for both political parties, to be honest with you. I think that we live in a siloed, tribal world right now.”

Kasich, who is a frequent critic of President Trump, said the GOP is “stumbling around” as a result of “no new really exciting ideas … for a number of years.”

“I think that the party is historically concerned about debt,” he said. “They’re concerned about having free and open trade. They’re concerned about welcoming immigrants into the country … They keep going back to Reagan. Well, I knew Reagan — it was 100 hundred years ago.”

“They don’t focus on the issue of workforce training, of dramatic reforms in education, the need to address climate change — it’s like we’re sunk,” he added. “And then you add where the party is right now. I don’t even recognize it … I mean, it’s unbelievable.”

Kasich, who sought the GOP’s 2016 nomination and currently works as a political analyst for CNN, previously weighed launching a primary challenge to Trump in 2020 but later backed down, saying “there is no path right now for me.”

But during the interview with the Post, the former governor said there was a “path” to a primary challenge but didn’t elaborate on whether he might decide to launch a 2020 campaign.

“I’m an idea guy. And I’m very interested in what’s happening with our country, what’s happening around the world,” he said, adding that “I don’t spend my time sitting around thinking about this.”

Kasich has slammed the Trump administration for its policies, including its detaining of migrant children near the southern border, calling it “an unspeakable disgrace and a stain on this nation.”