John Kasich: ‘I’m Pro-Pope’

Gov. John Kasich said Thursday night that he is “pro-Pope,” when he was asked during a CNN Townhall in South Carolina about Pope Francis’ comments about Donald Trump.

During an press conference, the Pope suggesting Trump is not a Christian because he wants to build a walls — not bridges — to stop illegal immigration to the United States.

“Well, first of all, I’m pro-Pope, OK? Put me down in the pro-Pope column,” Kasich said. He continued:

Look, I don’t know exactly — I read the whole quote, and it’s a lot longer than that. And look, this is a guy who said when somebody asked him about somebody’s behavior that wasn’t consistent with what they thought the scripture was, he said, who am I to judge?

I mean, this man has brought more sense of hope and more about the dos in life than the don’ts. I mean, when you think about religion, before we get to the don’ts — because when you mention religion, people get thought bubbles, like, oh no, he’s coming in to tell me what I can’t do. Why don’t we think about what we can do, which is about humility and loving your neighbor and, you know, all that kind of stuff.

And this guy has been so humble. And if you really want to understand this Pope, a friend of mine, Dr. Barrett, told me one time if you want to understand him, read a book about St. Francis, because he is the essence of humility and he has opened the walls and the doors of the church to lots of people who didn’t understand it.

Regarding the issue of illegal immigration, Kasich said, echoing Pope Francis’ words, “We have a right to build a wall, but I’ve got to tell you, there are too many walls between us. We need bridges between us if we’re going to fix the problems in Washington because all they do is have walls.”