Ohio Gov. John Kasich said Tuesday he's not trying to tell people how to vote by striking up an alliance with fellow Republican candidate Ted Cruz, and said the pact was more about eventually defeating Hillary Clinton than Donald Trump.
"I have laid out a strategy and I have not told anybody to not vote for me, I'm just not there campaigning," Kasich told NBC's
"Today" show. "When you don't campaign in certain areas in any kind of a race, guess what? Your turnout goes down."
But, Kasich said, he and Cruz are using the strategy to line up who will face Clinton, and it is not all about defeating Trump.
"He and I would both prefer to have an open convention where delegates can pick the person who can best defeat Hillary Clinton," Kasich said.
And while he's not actively campaigning in Indiana, he isn't telling people there not to vote for him, and he will be campaigning in other states and at the Republican National Convention this summer.
Kasich and Cruz are hoping their effort will deny front-runner Donald Trump the nomination. Their effort would divide upcoming contests, including elections in Indiana, Oregon and New Mexico.
He further denied that the agreement will be difficult for voters to understand.
"You guys are too hung up on process," he told the show, and accused the media of being "the ones confused and upset."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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