02 John Kasich town hall screengrab
Kasich: 2020 presidential run unlikely
01:41 - Source: CNN
CNN  — 

Ohio Gov. John Kasich said Monday that he would grade President Donald Trump’s performance as an “incomplete.”

“It’s not even a 100 days, so you have to give the guy a chance,” Kasich said at a CNN town hall moderated by CNN’s Anderson Cooper. “He’s never held public office before.”

Citing a Washington Post-ABC News poll showing 94% of Trump voters approve his job performance, while only 42% of all Americans approve, Cooper asked the Kasich why there is such a large divide.

“This is sort of symptomatic,” Kasich said. “‘I voted for him. I wear that uniform.’ –‘I didn’t vote for him. I wear a different uniform.’ I think people who voted for him, who see things they don’t like, have to recognize that. And people who didn’t vote for him have to recognize when he does something that’s positive. We want to be for our President, because if we are tearing each other apart, nothing will ever get done.”

When asked whether he would run for the White House in 2020, the former presidential candidate said “very unlikely.”

“Very unlikely that I will run for public office,” Kasich said.

“You wouldn’t close the door on it?” Cooper asked, to which Kasich replied, “How do you close the door on anything?” He added, “If I see something I need to do to help my country, that I really believe that I have to do, then I would think I would probably do it.”

Kasich’s answer on the 2020 question Monday night was much more open than an answer he had given to the same question on CNN’s “State of the Union” in late March. At the time, Kasich said “no” repeatedly to the question, emphatically denying he was setting himself up for a future presidential run.

“My job is to be a voice that’s constructive,” Kasich said. “I’m not really interested in running for political office again. I’m interested in being a voice that can help bring the country together again.”