Ohio Gov. John Kasich is exploring a run for the presidency against fellow Republican President Donald Trump in 2020, according to a Sunday profile in New York Magazine.
Kasich, who ran for the Republican nomination in 2016, still has a small campaign staff that is helping him look at options such as running as a Republican in primaries, or as an independent in the general election.
A primary run is a possibility if Trump's approval ratings with Republicans decline below the high 70s and if Democrats win in the 2018 midterm elections.
The Ohio governor has not declared he is running, but he says he wants to focus on the future of the Republican Party.
"I loved Ronald Reagan. I met Ronald Reagan. But Reagan was then," Kasich said in the interview.
John Weaver, a Republican strategist, remains on staff with Kasich. Weaver is frequently critical of the president on Twitter, but counsels Kasich to keep his criticism about policy.
"If he reacted like I do to everything that the president does, he wouldn't get anything done," Weaver said in New York Magazine, adding that Kasich should be the alternative to Trump.
"He's going to be a happy warrior about how to move forward," Weaver said.
Americans must reclaim a sense of connection and responsibility, Kasich said. The election of Trump and party leaders' complicity with the president is "a momentary lapse of reason, to quote Pink Floyd," Kasich said in the interview.
"There has to be a fundamental chance, in my opinion, with all of us. I'm willing to be a part of that. I want my voice to be out there. I want it very, very much," the Ohio governor said.
"Lawmakers, we have our place. Should you just bring back the days of the robber barson? Of course not. But we're not going to fix all the things that ail us by writing a law. If Donald Trump all of a sudden were not president, do you think everything would be great? Do you think all our problems would be fixed? I don't think so," the governor said in New York Magazine.
"The bigger platform you have, the more good you can do, but it doesn't make you better than the guy down the street. That's what I'm trying to say," Kasich said in the interview.
Millennials will ultimately decide the fate of the Republican Party," Kasich told "Fox News Sunday."
"At this point, I'm not plotting or planning anything" such as running for president." Kasich said in the interview.
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