John Kasich Surprises CNN's Alisyn Camerota by Pouring Cold Water on Impeachment

P.J. Gladnick
September 29th, 2019 6:10 AM

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John Kasich has a reputation for being vehemently opposed to President Donald Trump. In fact, when the Republicans nominated Trump in Cleveland in 2016, the governor of Ohio at the time, Kasich, couldn't even be bothered to show up at the venue. Therefore it would be not be unusual if CNN's New Day host Alyisyn Camerota expected to hear a sympathetic reaction to the impeachment  of Trump from Kasich on Friday. However, imagine her surprise when Kasich poured cold water on the subject of impeachment. 

Camerota provided some pushback but the real entertainment value of the segment is watching the look of sadness on her face while realizing that anti-Trump Kasich was not on board for impeachment.

 

ALISYN CAMEROTA: You were on the air here in our studio yesterday, as we got the whistle-blower's complaint and we read it cold, right then and there, as we got it, and we were all, I know, processing it in real time. And so now that you've had 24 hours to let it sink in, what are your thoughts on the whistle-blower's complaint and the president's transcript of that call?

And now Kasich quickly deflates Camerota's impeachment expectations.

JOHN KASICH: It's all very, it's a terrible situation in terms of that transcript, Alisyn, but the question is, does one phone call, at this point in time, lead to impeachment?

Mitch McConnell says it's laughable. I mean, he is the Senate leader. You know, we have the gentlemen you just quoted from Ohio, Mike Turner says, you know, it's not OK. I think it's absolutely worth condemning.

And, by the way, let me point out, Alisyn, there is nobody, no one inside the Republican Party who has fought harder against Donald Trump than I have. Not personally, but against his policies, his ways, his division. And this call is another example of his irresponsibility.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

KASICH: The question is, where are the people? You know, where are the people?

Now, I'm out here in Ohio. I'm finally back in the heartland. There's nobody talking about this. Nobody coming up to me anywhere and saying, "oh, my goodness!"

We -- so it takes time. It's got to be made clear to the public what this is all about and so therefore, I think the investigation has to continue.

David Brooks in The New York Times, it's a column worth people reading. He points out the dangers and the reasons why you don't go forward with it. Now, David hasn't convinced me. Jury is still out in my mind, because I'm troubled. He's attacking whistle-blowers or people who know whistle-blowers. It's pathetic, OK?

But the question is, where is the public? Does this process move to a place where Republicans can grudgingly say, this is a problem? And right now, I don't see it.

After hearing this with some pained expressions on her face, Camerota makes an attempt to extract at least some sympathy for impeachment from Kasich.

CAMEROTA: Well, I mean, you said, does one phone call lead to impeachment? If there's illegality on that one phone call, doesn't it?

KASICH: Well, but that's a debate. That's a debate. If you asked the people who are going to have votes in Congress, Republicans, OK, is this a crime, I don't think you're going to get a lot of yeses, OK?

You're going to get concern. You're going to get severe criticism. You may even get some condemnation, but that's not what we're talking about here.

And I think that the Democrats have to be careful that they're not rushing towards this, particularly because they have people inside of their party who say, you have to do this, you have power, you have authority, you must do this.

Again, I have to tell you, Alisyn, that nobody's fought harder against this guy. I think he's been irresponsible in so many ways. But the question is, do you use this process to make up for the fact that everybody is frustrated about the way he's conducted himself in office, not just about this, but everything else.

Since she still didn't hear what she wanted, Camerota made another pitch for impeachment by emphasizing how the Democrats are not rushing into this even though that is what they are doing.

CAMEROTA: Well, I understand, but in fairness to the Democrats, it has been three years. I mean, you say that they're rushing this process. They didn't do this. Nancy Pelosi pointedly did not move towards impeachment after the Mueller report came out. She -- it was only because of this Ukraine...

KASICH: She didn't have any way to do that, Alisyn. Alisyn, she couldn't have moved then. There was nothing there to do. And what I'm suggesting is you have to complete the investigation. You need to get the corroborating witnesses. You need to get the people in who moved the transcript from one set of computers to a highly classified computer. You need to find out what other things have been moved there.

I'm saying, let the process work. Look, I'm on this channel to tell you what I think, OK? I'm not at this channel to tell people what they want to hear.

I don't get a lot of credit when I say things like this, but that's not what I'm searching for. I'm searching for the good of the country. I'm searching for a process that is careful.

Now people are saying, we've got to just go do it. I just heard that. You know, we got to go do it. Get it done quickly, because we're going to have to -- we're going to start a new election cycle.

Wait a minute. We're talking about one of the few times in American history when a president may be impeached. This is not a light matter. If all of a sudden everybody can be impeached, then it has no power.

Sorry, Alisyn. No sale on impeachment from the Kasich corner.