Former Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich said former President Donald Trump’s indictment and arraignment Tuesday, and myriad legal troubles, means “there’s no way” he can go back to the White House.
If the Manhattan case stood alone, Kasich said Republican voters “could put up” with Trump’s indictment, but combined with the ongoing Georgia grand jury investigation into Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the Justice Department’s probe into his handling of classified documents, “that’s just too much water for him to take,” Kasich said.
Read the Trump indictment:Donald Trump charged with crimes in New York
Related:Photos capture unprecedented indictment and arraignment of former President Donald Trump
What are Trump’s other legal challenges?
Kasich referred to two other major legal battles Trump is currently facing.
- A Georgia grand jury wrapped up an eight-month investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election in the state in February. The grand jury recommended indictments against multiple people, which could include Trump.
- The Justice Department along with an independent special counsel is investigating how Trump handled classified documents at his private Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida. The Washington Post reported Sunday that the department found new evidence of possible obstruction by Trump in the investigation.
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Kasich: ‘No way in a million years’ independents will vote for Trump
While those court battles might not result in legal consequences for Trump, Kasich said, electorally, Trump has already lost.
“He’s like the master of escape and we just have to wait and see,” Kasich said. “But here’s what I do know. There’s no way the guy is gonna be president.”
Kasich added that “there is no way in a million years” that independents and “traditional Republicans” will vote for Trump with so many legal challenges hovering over him.
Trump after arrest:What's next legally and politically for the former president?
And among Trump’s own supporters, they could be “exhausted” from Trump’s constant legal troubles, Kasich said.
“I think exhaustion is sort of like water in a boat. It begins to overflow the boat and begins to sink (Trump),” Kasich said.
“There’s just people who are just tired. They just want this to go away,” Kasich continued, pointing to Trump's loss in the 2020 election and Republican’s disappointing performance in the 2022 midterm elections. “People are like ‘I’m fed up with all this stuff.’ And so those independents came out, many of them Republicans, and they delivered a significant win for the Democrats.”
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