Often a President Donald Trump critic, Gov. John Kasich, R-Ohio, said Sunday the Republican party needs to be the repaired, stopping just short of a vow to become Independent.

"If the party can't be fixed, Jake, then I'm not going to be able to support the party, period, that's the end of it," Kasich told Jake Tapper on CNN's "State of the Union." "I'm worried about our country and my kids' future. I am worried about it. But have I given up? Of course not."

Kasich, who earlier told Tapper he "was raised in a bad luck Democrat family," vows to "fix" the Republican party.

"Look, Jake, there is a struggle for the soul of the Republican Party and the soul of the Democratic Party," Kasich told Tapper. "We spend a lot of time talking about, you know, all the trouble in the Republican party. I have no idea what the Democrats are for. It is unbelievable. Which is why polls are now beginning to show a support for Independent candidacies more than ever in our history. People are getting fed up with all of this kind of nonsense."

Kasich continues to be one of the most ardent critics of President Trump in the GOP, but he told Tapper a change in political affiliation to Independent is not being considered.

"No, not at this," Kasich said. "What I'm saying to you is we need to fix it. If our party, if the Republican party, is going to be anti-immigration, if it's not going to be worried about debt, if it's going to be anti-trade, this is nowhere our party can be.

"So, I'm going to fight like everything I have to make sure — it's why I'm on these shows — I want this party to be straightened out. I not only want the party to be straightened out, but I want the country to be straightened out. It's really a battle again inside of both parties, but people are beginning to say, I don't like either of them. And that says something big. So hopefully our party leaders will pay attention to this."