Former presidential candidate and current Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich may be moving closer to mounting a primary challenge against President Trump in the 2020 election.

Sources close to Kasich told Willie Geist of the "Today Show" there is growing a sense of "moral imperative" to run against Trump for the Republican nomination in 2020 following his controversial statements on the deadly protest in Charlottesville, Va.

NEW: Sources close to @JohnKasich tell me, after Charlottesville, there is growing sense of "moral imperative" to primary Trump in 2020. — Willie Geist (@WillieGeist) August 16, 2017

Kasich has long been critical of Trump.

On Tuesday, Kasich criticized Trump's Charlottesville comments, saying "there is no moral equivalency to Nazi sympathizers" following Trump's tumultuous press conference.

Kasich, who lost to Trump in the 2016 Republican primary, continued, "There can be no room in America -- or the Republican Party -- for racism, anti-Semitism, hate or white nationalism. Period."