Matt Borges Donald Trump story

Ohio Republican Party Chairman Matt Borges and members of Ohio's delegation celebrate after they cast their votes for Gov. John Kasich during the second day of the 2016 Republican National Convention at Quicken Loans Arena on Tuesday, July 19, 2016.

(Lisa DeJong, The Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Matt Borges has become something of a Donald Trump whisperer.

When the Ohio Republican Party chairman calls, the GOP nominee for president listens.

Trump toned down his attacks on John Kasich, who challenged him in the primaries, after Borges told him it would be political suicide to pick on Ohio's popular governor. And when Borges believes the New York businessman has gone too far, he doesn't mince words.

The two speak frequently by telephone and when Trump campaigns in the Buckeye State. But the contact has intensified in recent days, as Trump's campaign reels from the damaging revelation of a 2005 video that featured him making lewd comments about women.

Borges had just hung up with Trump when cleveland.com reached the chairman by telephone Wednesday morning. He shared details of their three discussions since Sunday.

What did they talk about Wednesday?

"I told him we have a path to carry Ohio, so let's just stick together," Borges said.

"He said, 'OK, I love ya.'"

What is that path?

"I don't want to share internal numbers with you," Borges told cleveland.com, acknowledging a new Baldwin Wallace University poll Wednesday that showed Democrat Hillary Clinton leading Trump by 9 percentage points in a four-way race in Ohio. "But there's another poll that I am aware of that demonstrates his [second] debate performance had a huge impact. And of course that's what he wants to hear, so I hope that positive reinforcement helps him."

Borges declined to offer more specifics about the internal polling.

Is Borges mad that Trump is trashing Republicans for rescinding endorsements (Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio falls into this category) or for refusing to campaign with him?

"I made a point to him so that he understood there's a wide discrepancy between where he is and where Senator Portman is in these polls" - Portman leads Democratic challenger Ted Strickland by double digits - "and he needs those voters, so the last thing he should be doing is throwing shade at them," Borges said.

"And he agreed with me."

Borges also noted with satisfaction that, though Trump has attacked Sen. John McCain and House Speaker Paul Ryan, he has not publicly slammed Portman for pulling his support.

Is Trump mad that Borges has given Ohio Republicans the OK to unendorse him?

"I have talked to him on the phone 15 to 20 times," Borges said. "It's not like we're close, OK? But in terms of what I think I know of him, sure, I think there was concern that he was going to fly off the handle with me. But he has never once done that with me. He has always been even-keeled, even tempered with me. He always seems to kind of like me."

How long did Wednesday morning's phone call last?

Seven minutes, Borges said.

Anything else interesting from his recent conversations with Trump?

Borges said he spoke to Trump on Monday about claims and speculation on social media that there could be more audio or video footage of Trump using offensive language.

"He's told me he never used the 'N' word in his life," Borges said. "I'm going to take him at his word, and if it turns out that he lied to me, I will be profoundly disappointed in him."

Borges has been noncommittal in recent days about whether he will vote for Trump. So where does the Ohio GOP chairman stand after Wednesday's call with the nominee?

"There is no way I will ever vote for Hillary," Borges said. "I'm going to vote on Election Day. And if everything he's pledged to me turns out to be true and we run this campaign the way we need to run it for the last four weeks, of course I'll vote for our nominee."

What does Trump's team say about his conversations with Borges?

A spokesman for Trump's Ohio campaign did not immediately respond to questions.

How does all of this Trump whispering figure into speculation that Borges will run for Republican National Committee chairman after the November election?

Borges has not been shy about airing his concerns about Trump or about advertising his efforts to rein in the mogul. And Politico reported Wednesday that he emailed all RNC members to argue against punishing Republican officeholders and candidates who have split with Trump.

You can - and probably should - interpret all of this as a sign Borges is interested. But on Wednesday he only would say that he is focused on the general election and would not discuss the RNC job until Nov. 9.

That's the day after Election Day.