CLEVELAND, Ohio — Members of the Ohio delegation to the Republican National Convention told Breitbart News on Wednesday that despite Gov. John Kasich’s steadfast refusal to back Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, they hoped he would do so.
“I do think, at the end of the day, Gov. Kasich and Trump [need to] come together for the sake of the party,” said Ed Anderson, a voting delegate from University Heights.
He added, however, that he believed Trump needed to make the first move.
“I do believe that, since Trump is the leader today, that he needs to reach out to Kasich. I do believe that from a spiritual perspective, the Bible says, ‘If you offend your brother, go to him.’ I think there’s been some offensive language. I think that right now, we need to come together as a party and defeat the Democrats and Hillary Clinton.”
Jack Etheridge, an honorary delegate and party donor from Columbus, tried to symbolize party unity in his outfit, sporting a John Kasich for President button from 2000, and a Trump tie — as well as a Stetson hat.
“I view this as the great synthesis of Republicans coming together, over the principles that I think actually are shared by these gentlemen of limited government, liberty in the classic American sense of the word, and restraint and responsibility among the citizenry.”
Etheridge added that he was “really excited that Republicans have a nominee that presents a very substantive choice to voters.”
He added that he expected Kasich to back Trump eventually: “I’d like to think all Republican officials are going to rise to the occasion and support the nominee.” Elections were a “team sport,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI), who is also the convention chair, and who attended college at Miami University in Ohio, addressed the delegation’s breakfast event, urging them to rally behind Trump.
“We’re all on the same team — we all want the same things,” Ryan said, according to Cleveland.com.
Asked whether he thought the impasse was hurting Ohio, as Newt Gingrich said earlier Wednesday on CNN, Anderson said: “I don’t think it’s hurting Ohio,” adding, “I just think him and Trump need to come together, and Trump needs to make that initial effort.
“We need Kasich to put us over the top. We need Ohio.”
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. His new book, See No Evil: 19 Hard Truths the Left Can’t Handle, will be published by Regnery on July 25 and is available for pre-order through Amazon. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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