Ohio Gov. John Kasich on Tuesday defended his decision not to attend the Republican National Convention in his home state.

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Kasich, a former Republican presidential candidate himself, has refused to endorse Donald Trump Donald John TrumpBiden leads Trump by 36 points nationally among Latinos: poll Trump dismisses climate change role in fires, says Newsom needs to manage forest better Jimmy Kimmel hits Trump for rallies while hosting Emmy Awards MORE or attend the convention. But he did speak across town in an interview with the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce on the second day of the convention in Cleveland.

"That's not where I think I need to be in terms of what I have stood for throughout the presidential campaign," Kasich said when asked why he wouldn't just "give in" and attend the nominating event.

During the campaign, Kasich pushed back against harsh rhetoric on immigration from candidates such as Trump. Kasich backed a path to legal status and pushed back on the idea of deporting the millions of people in the country illegally.

Kasich avoided directly engaging with Trump, who was officially nominated on Tuesday. But he made clear that he has a very different posture on key points.

"You have to be a party that reaches out," he said, mentioning African-Americans and Latinos.

On immigration, he said, "It just seems like it’s a natural thing to do to be welcoming."

Trump’s and Kasich's staff have engaged in a fiercer back and forth this week.

Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, speaking at a Bloomberg breakfast Monday, said the governor is "embarrassing his party in Ohio" by not endorsing Trump.

Kasich strategist John Weaver shot back to Bloomberg on the possibility of Kasich serving as Trump's vice president: "A hologram of Abraham Lincoln could have come back and asked him and he would have said 'no.'''

But Kasich kept his remarks more positive on Tuesday.

He said that after the election, "We’re going to have to sit down and we’re going to have to think about what our party is going to mean to people in the 21st century."