Trump made a powerful VP offer to Kasich, report says
Donald Trump badly wanted to name John Kasich his vice presidential running mate, reportedly offering to make the Ohio governor the most powerful vice president in history.
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According to a New York Times Magazine report on Wednesday, a senior adviser to Kasich spoke with Donald Trump Jr., the Republican nominee's eldest son, a few weeks after the Ohio governor suspended his presidential campaign and left Trump the last candidate standing in the GOP race.
The adviser said Donald Jr. offered Kasich a place on the ticket, and noted that his father's running mate would be in charge of both domestic and foreign policy, according to the Times.
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When the adviser asked what that would leave for President Trump, Donald Jr. reportedly replied, "Making America great again."
A Trump source denied to CNN that Kasich was offered such an opportunity but simultaneously confirmed he was vetted.
"His vetting read like a trashy novel," the source said.
Kasich, who was the last of 16 GOP rivals dispatched by Trump on his way to the nomination despite winning just his home state of Ohio, has remained resistant to Trump. While he has not ruled out eventually supporting his former rival in November, Kasich has said he finds Trump's rhetoric and some of his policy proposals abhorrent.
His disdain was not, however, enough to strike him from Trump's wish list of vice presidential candidates, according to the Times.
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"Kasich ... was viewed with wistfulness by the Trump team as the perfect choice, but for the likelihood that he would be a prickly subordinate (as well as the nettlesome detail that Kasich seemed to have no interest whatsoever in the job)," Wednesday's report notes.
"But Kasich effectively removed himself from the list by telling Trump in a phone conversation at the end of May that a joint ticket would be like two corporations with completely different philosophies and styles trying to merge," the story adds.
Nor would Kasich offer Trump his endorsement ahead of the convention. John Weaver, the chief strategist for Kasich's campaign, called Trump's campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, on July 4 to inform him no endorsement was forthcoming, according to the Times.
As the chief executive of the state hosting the Republican National Convention, Kasich was expected to take a prominent role running the show in Cleveland. Instead, he has made appearances around the city – meeting with the state delegation and headlining a reception at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – but has visibly avoided official convention events, drawing criticism from Trump's campaign.
