Despite the increased tensions with North Korea, the United States should go ahead with planned military drills between the U.S. and South Korea, Ohio Gov. John Kasich told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
Kasich, who has been a frequent critic of President Donald Trump, said he backed the administration on this issue, saying that when both Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson “have a sense that we have to keep the pressure on, I agree with that.”
The Ohio governor said the administration deserves credit for talking “about how important it is to protect the continental United States and that we are going to have every option on the table. And I think it's gotten the attention of the Chinese,” adding that “I would make it clear to the Chinese. I would send an envoy to see the Chinese now and say there is a red line. We are not going to sit back and have our people targeted by this regime and you can do something about it. And if you don't do something about it, you're going to have to live with the results.”
Kasich emphasized his point even further, saying that “if I were the president of the United States and we had a regime like North Korea and they were able to develop the technology to target the United States of America, we would have no choice but to take those systems out.”
The governor said that while continuing the military exercises, he would also seek ways to obtain a verifiable freeze on Pyongyang’s nuclear program and to think about how to eventually have a more stable regime in North Korea.
Kasich stressed, however, that he “wouldn't take a chance on a government that unstable and a leader who is that erratic to be able to have the capability to launch and to land a missile in Los Angeles and kill people there… We have to protect Americans before we worry about anything else out here.”
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