Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who competed against Donald Trump in the 2016 Republican primaries, said he hopes the president uses his rally in Arizona on Tuesday to help the country heal. | Ron Schwane/AP Photo Kasich: No plans to challenge Trump in 2020

Ohio Gov. John Kasich sidestepped questions Sunday about whether he thinks President Donald Trump should face a primary challenge in 2020.

“I don't have any plans to do anything like that. I'm rooting for him to get it together,” Kasich told Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union." “We all are. I mean, we're only, like, seven months into this presidency.”


Kasich, who competed against Trump in the 2016 Republican primaries, said he hopes Trump uses his campaign-style rally in Arizona on Tuesday to help the country heal.

“You're going to go to Phoenix and make a speech, fine. That's your right. You can go there. He's got free speech just like the rest of us have it,” Kasich said. “But when you go, try to use that as an opportunity to say something that's going to bring people together.”

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Kasich said Trump’s well-reviewed February speech to Congress proved he has the capacity to bring the country together “if he can maintain discipline.” And he said it’s necessary because the “fighting and yelling back and forth” are harming the country.

“Everybody in America needs to take a deep breath and think about your children and think about our country,” Kasich said. “We don't do well when all we do is fight.”