John Kasich has managed to avoid slinging mud as the race for the GOP presidential nomination grows increasingly hostile — but the Ohio governor tells
Newsmax TV that staying out of the fray is a double-edged sword.
"I go to these rallies and people are very, very excited about the fact that I'm positive. The down side of it, is you don't get any media coverage," Kasich said to J.D. Hayworth in an interview on "Newsmax Prime."
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"Because if you're not calling a people a name then, they just don't put you on because you're talking about a solution to a problem, rather than name-calling.
"That's been the challenge throughout, but I'm one of four people left. I'm the last governor standing and who would've thunk it?"
The main mudslinging, which has been between Donald Trump and Sen. Marco Rubio, reached fever pitch last week when the Florida senator implied the billionaire developer had small genitalia, an accusation Trump emphatically denied.
Some political analysts believe Rubio's decision to ditch the high road and hurl insults may have accounted for his poor showing on Super Saturday, where he placed third in three states and fourth in one.
Asked if Rubio made a mistake in going native, Kasich told Hayworth:
"That's up to the Rubio campaign. I'm not going to comment on other people's performances. I just don't want to do that."
Kasich who remains in fourth place nationally after Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz and Rubio is under increasing pressure to drop out. But it's likely he'll remain in the race through the primary in his home state on Mar. 15.
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