Monday on CNN’s “OutFront,” former Gov. John Kasich (R-OH), who is set to speak in support of Joe Biden for president at the Democratic National Convention, said Evangelicals’ support for Trump was not “consistent with the things that they believe in as promoted in the Old and New Testament.”
Kasich pointed to Democratic presidential nominee former Vice President Joe Biden’s faith as a determining factor in his support.
Kasich said, “I would encourage other Republicans to know that it is okay to take off a partisan hat, take off your partisan hat and vote on the basis of what your conscience tells you about the future of our country, not just for yourself but for your kids as well.”
He continued, “I believe Biden can bring us together. I’ll disagree with Joe on things, and they expected that when they asked me to do this. I said yeah, there are things I’ll disagree with Biden on. There are things I’m concerned about. At the end of the day, I think he is a man of faith. I think he is a man, look, his history has been an ability to bring people together. That is the way it was when I was in Congress when we balanced the budget. We’re able to do welfare reform. And I think he can restore civility. I don’t think he’ll go hard left. I think he is a pretty tough guy. So I’m comfortable with the fact that he would be our leader. And I expect he’ll have Republicans that will be part of anything he does going forward. That’s the way — that is his nature and has been history. And he is a man of deep faith. And a man that has suffered some tremendous grief that has shaped his character, all some of the things I will talk about in my speech.”
Anchor Erin Burnett asked, “So Southern Baptist Minister, he is ordained, Mike Huckabee said the other day in part, ‘I don’t know if anybody, people of faith who think Joe Biden is a great choice. I tell you they’re not going to go with Biden. That’s not an option.’ What do you say?
Kasich said, “Well, I’m clued in to a lot of people of faith, a number of them, who are very happy that I’m making this decision. I can give you names. I don’t want to say it on the air, but I can give you names of them if we have to come back and do that. And the fact is, you know, the faith is a matter of your personal relationship. And so I don’t know why that’s been said about Joe. I think he is a man of faith. I don’t sit down and talk about all of his religion with him, but I’m comfortable with him. I, like I say, I consider myself to be a man of faith. A flawed man of faith for sure, but aren’t we all? So I don’t think anybody can speak for the entire faith community and try to say that this person is good and that person isn’t. A lot of people scratch their heads about why some of these very conservative Evangelicals support Trump. It seems not to be consistent with the things that they believe in as promoted in the Old and New Testament.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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