Kasich camp bashes Priebus, warns of national GOP 'wipeout' They are at odds over the Ohio governor's continued refusal to endorse Trump.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich's war with the national Republican Party exploded into the open Sunday night, when his top adviser thrashed GOP leader Reince Priebus and hinted that the presidential election may be out of reach for Donald Trump.

The statement, issued on official campaign letterhead, followed remarks by Priebus earlier Sunday suggesting the party might block the Ohio governor from running for president again because he has refused to support Trump.


"Thankfully, there are still leaders in this country who put principles before politics," said John Weaver, Kasich's adviser, adding, "The idea of a greater purpose beyond oneself may be alien to political party bosses like Reince Priebus, but it is at the center of everything Governor Kasich does."

Weaver derided Priebus as "a Kenosha political operative," referring to Priebus's Wisconsin home, and said the three-term Republican National Committee leader should be thanking Kasich for "an inclusive, conservative vision that can actually win a national election."

"The Governor is traveling the nation supporting down ballot Republicans and preventing a potential national wipeout from occurring on Reince's watch," Weaver said.

Kasich's statement was a stunning act of open hostility between the national Republican Party and the governor in perhaps the most crucial swing state — and at a sensitive moment in the election. Trump has risen in national polls and inched closer to Hillary Clinton in swing states. He's even passed her in Ohio, perhaps his strongest chance to capture a state that Mitt Romney lost in 2012.

RNC spokesman Sean Spicer shrugged off the Kasich camp's statement. "We are totally focused on winning back the White House and maintaining our majorities in the House and Senate," Spicer said.

But another national GOP strategist, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Kasich may end up getting punished by Republican voters for breaking his word to support the party's nominee -- which he made along with other rivals last fall. In fact, the party also makes its lists and resources available to campaigns based on similar agreements, and Kasich was a beneficiary of those lists.

"Politicians who sign their names on pledges and agreements then not honor them, are only doing harm to themselves, as they do nothing but illustrate to prospective voters their word means nothing," the operative said.

Yet, Kasich has persistently refused to endorse Trump since dropping out of the presidential primary on May 4. In an interview that aired Sunday on "Meet the Press," Kasich ruled out voting for Clinton but said "it's very, very likely I will not" vote for Trump.

Endorsements are rarely critical in national elections, but Kasich defeated Trump in a March primary in Ohio and has deep ties with local GOP leaders, giving him outsized influence over the machinery of the party.

Throughout the race and especially since dropping out, Kasich has presented his sunnier brand of politics and ties to the GOP establishment as an alternative to Trumpism. And in the process, he's infuriated party officials and Trump backers for continuing to needle their nominee.

"Those people need to get on board," Reince Priebus said of leading Republicans who have yet to endorse Donald Trump. | AP Photo

At the Republican National Convention in July — in Kasich's backyard in Cleveland — Kasich refused to attend but held a string of events on the margins to push his own version of Republicanism.

That steadfast refusal to fall in line prompted Priebus to hint Sunday that the party might not forgive its leaders who refused to back Trump in the home stretch of the campaign.

"Those people need to get on board. And if they're thinking they're going to run again someday, I think that we're going to evaluate the process — of the nomination process and I don't think it's going to be that easy for them," he said on "Face the Nation" on CBS, after he was specifically asked about Kasich.

"In order to be on the ballot in South Carolina, you actually have to pledge your support to the nominee, no matter who that person is. So what's the penalty for that? It's not a threat, but that's just the question that we have a process in place," Priebus continued.

Priebus worried that the lack of unity among Republicans was hurting Trump's electoral chances, even as signs of coalescing had begun.

"We need to do a couple more percentage points better and we're doing that as we move forward," he said.

