Republican presidential candidate John Kasich said he would "of course" fire Corey Lewandowski if he were in the same position as front-runner Donald Trump Donald John TrumpObama calls on Senate not to fill Ginsburg's vacancy until after election Planned Parenthood: 'The fate of our rights' depends on Ginsburg replacement Progressive group to spend M in ad campaign on Supreme Court vacancy MORE.

At the CNN town hall on Tuesday, the Ohio governor said he had not seen the video that shows Lewandowski, Trump's campaign manager, allegedly grabbing the arm of former Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields. But if it is real, Kasich said he would take action.

"When you have problems like that, you have to act," Kasich said on Tuesday.

ADVERTISEMENT

"You want to give people the benefit of the doubt," he said. "But when you see things that are pretty clear, from what I understand, the video is clear, of course I would fire him."

Lewandowski has been charged with simple battery for allegedly grabbing the arm of Fields. The police department released a video that appears to show Lewandowski reaching out and holding the reporter as Trump passes.

Cruz said earlier Tuesday on CNN that he too would fire Lewandowski if he were in the same situation.

"It shouldn't be complicated that members of the campaign staff should not be physically assaulting the press," he said. "That shouldn't be a complicated decision."

Trump on Tuesday night argued his campaign manager acted appropriately because Fields had approached the candidate.

“She had a pen in her hand,” Trump said. "It could have been a knife. It might have been dangerous.”