Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) said Monday that members of Otto Warmbier's family are in "deeper pain" because of President Trump Donald John TrumpOmar fires back at Trump over rally remarks: 'This is my country' Pelosi: Trump hurrying to fill SCOTUS seat so he can repeal ObamaCare Trump mocks Biden appearance, mask use ahead of first debate MORE's comments over the last week.

"The Warmbier family are in deeper pain, I'm sure, again, as a result of all this," Kasich said on CNN.

"There is no such thing as 'delicately balancing' when somebody is tortured and essentially sent home brain-dead,” he said.

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"There is no negotiating here," he added. "The leader of North Korea knew exactly where Warmbier was and they used him as a pawn."

"There is no such thing as 'delicately balancing' when somebody is tortured and essentially sent home brain dead," says @JohnKasich responding to Trump's comments on Otto Warmbier.



"The Warmbier family are in deeper pain, I'm sure again, because of this." https://t.co/KkCn7vfyVy pic.twitter.com/spirv62Sgn — CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) March 4, 2019

Warmbier was detained in North Korea and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for allegedly taking a poster during a trip there in 2016. He was in a vegetative state when he was released from North Korean custody in 2017 and died shortly afterward.

Trump sparked backlash by saying last week that he believed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was unaware of Warmbier’s treatment.

“He tells me he didn’t know about it, and I take him at his word,” Trump said during a summit with Kim in Vietnam.

Trump later backtracked his initial remarks, saying they were “misinterpreted.”

Those comments came hours after Fred and Cindy Warmbier, parents of the late University of Virginia student, released a statement pinning their son’s death on Kim and indirectly criticizing the president.

“We have been respectful during this summit process. Now we must speak out. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son Otto,” they wrote. “Kim and his evil regime are responsible for unimaginable cruelty and inhumanity. No excuses or lavish praise can change that.”