Kasich And Hickenlooper Shut Down 2020 Unity Ticket Rumors (VIDEO)

John Kasich, the Republican governor of Ohio, has been a fairly outspoken critic of President Donald Trump. Kasich was the final Republican candidate to fall in the 2016 Republican primary, and he tried to position himself as the “sane” option for his party, even though they eventually went the opposite direction.

Rumors had been floating that Kasich may be planning to run against Trump in 2020 as an independent candidate, but the governor took to Meet the Press this morning to squash those rumors.

Many rumors had predicted that Kasich would choose the Democratic governor of Colorado, John Hickenlooper, as a running mate, with the two running under a unity ticket. Speaking with NBC host Chuck Todd, Kasich laughed off the suggestion and waffled a bit when confronted with the rumor:

“Look, Kasich-Hickenlooper, first of all, you couldn’t pronounce it and secondly, you couldn’t fit it on a bumper sticker.”

When Todd calls him out for not issuing a true denial, Kasich completely shoots it down:

“The answer is no. The answer is no.”

The rumors stemmed from the fact that the two governors have been working together to fix some of the issues with the Affordable Care Act, hoping that some compromise and bipartisan effort could help make the country better. Judging from Trump’s campaign style rallies, that may be a tall order.

Kasich was not the only one denying the rumors. Hickenlooper took to Twitter to also laugh off the idea:

Hickenlooper raises a good point: politics have grown so partisan that it seems strange when members of opposite parties try to work together towards a solution that can benefit the country.


Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) could learn a thing or two from these governors.

Never say never, but if you were banking on a Republican running in 2020 as an independent to split the Trump vote, you may want to look elsewhere from Kasich. You can see his denial with Chuck Todd below:

Featured image via Flickr user Gage Skidmore / CC BY-SA 2.0.