Despite the fact that Joe Biden supports taxpayer-funded abortion and will certainly be appointing Supreme Court justices that will uphold Roe v. Wade, former Ohio Governor John Kasich (R) believes that the former vice president will not be a radical on the issue of abortion.
Speaking with Meghan McCain on &#8220;The View&#8221; Friday, Kasich said that Biden would not actually enact the many radical proposals of his campaign if elected president, arguing that his &#8220;character&#8221; would not allow it. The exchange came when Meghan pressed Kasich about the radicalism proposed by the likes of Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA).
&#8220;I hate President Trump, and I think everybody else knows that, but there are some policies on the left specifically with Senator Kamala Harris right now having to do with abortion,&#8221; said Meghan McCain, as reported by <a href="https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/kristine-marsh/2020/09/11/kasich-tells-mccain-its-safe-pro-lifers-vote-biden-character">Newsbusters</a>. &#8220;She co-sponsored a bill opposing any limits at all when you can get an abortion and it&#8217;s a big break from Joe Biden&#8217;s past positions. And the Biden-Harris campaign is also running on taxpayer funding for abortions.&#8221;
&#8220;I was surprised at this, including those after 20 weeks. You&#8217;re pro-life, and I know that. You were pro-life in politics as am I,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;It&#8217;s a big, big part of who I am and my platform, and I don&#8217;t think taxpayers should be funding abortions for women who are as pregnant as I am right now. So how would you push back against a voter like me who&#8217;s concerned about things like this in a possible Biden/Kamala administration?&#8221;
Kashich said that while he disagrees with Joe Biden on a number of issues, including the capital gains tax, he believed that the former vice president would be able to pull the country back together.
&#8220;I agree with your position on the life issue, but look, again I&#8217;m not a person —  first of all, I disagree with Joe Biden in a number of areas, like some of what he&#8217;s talking about in terms of capital gains taxes — but the issues here are dwarfed, in my opinion, by the fact that he&#8217;s a person that can pull us together,&#8221; said Kasich.  &#8220;So do I think that if he wins, all of the sudden, all of these things are gonna happen that are negative? No, I don&#8217;t believe that at all, because that&#8217;s not his character. That&#8217;s not who he is.&#8221;
Kasich then cited Joe Biden&#8217;s relationship with Megahan&#8217;s father, John McCain, as proof that he can get along with people that disagree with him.
&#8220;As you know, I  hope this is appropriate for me to say, as you know, your father and Joe were great friends. Why?  Not because they agreed on everything, but they could find common ground,&#8221; he said. &#8220;So do I think we are going to end up in some cataclysmic place if he wins? I don&#8217;t. But I do believe four more years of this division is wrecking the very soul of our country.  And if we continue down this path, I don&#8217;t know how we come back.&#8221;
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/failed-presidential-candidate-john-kasich-i-have-a-right-to-define-what-it-means-to-be-a-conservative">Failed Presidential Candidate John Kasich: ‘I Have A Right To Define What It Means To Be A Conservative’</a>

Former Ohio Governor John Kasich Visits “Your World With Neil Cavuto”

John Kasich: Biden Will Not Be A Radical On Abortion, ‘That’s Not In His Character’

Abortion

Joe Biden

John Kasich

Former New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie blasted former Ohio Republican Governor John Kasich on Monday night after Kasich formally endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden during the first night of the Democratic National Convention.
&#8220;Chris Christie, four years ago Meg Whitman and Christine Todd Whitman both endorsed Hillary Clinton,&#8221; ABC News host George Stephanopoulos said. &#8220;So, how big a threat are these Republican endorsements tonight?&#8221;
&#8220;Zero. Zero. I mean, they&#8217;re meaningless,&#8221; Christie responded. &#8220;They were with her, they were with her four years ago, now they&#8217;re with Biden. No surprise.&#8221;
&#8220;And John Kasich, just to show you where John Kasich&#8217;s standing is in the Republican Party, when he was the only Republican governor left on the stage in 2016 — Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, and John Kasich — the three candidates left, do you know how many Republican governors, of his colleagues, his sitting colleagues at the time, endorsed John Kasich?&#8221; Christie asked. &#8220;Zero. And the reason they didn&#8217;t is because he&#8217;s a backstabber and he&#8217;s an untruthful guy.&#8221;
&#8220;And so tonight, Republicans are going to look at that and go, &#8216;You can have him, please, believe me. Give us a break, get him out of our party. You take him for a little while,'&#8221; Christie continued. &#8220;Because, on top of all that, I&#8217;ve worked with John a lot, he&#8217;s exhausting. Joe Biden&#8217;s going to be getting calls from John Kasich. He&#8217;s going to want to change his phone number.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisChristie?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ChrisChristie</a> torches Kasich: &quot;Do you know how many Republican governors&#8230;.endorsed him? Zero &amp; the reason they didn&#39;t endorse him is b/c he&#39;s a backstabber &amp; untruthful guy&#8230;.Biden&#39;s going to be getting calls from John Kasich, he&#39;s going to want to change his phone number.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/abHLm24TmH">pic.twitter.com/abHLm24TmH</a>
&mdash; Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) <a href="https://twitter.com/CurtisHouck/status/1295551936591286272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 18, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Trump campaign hit Kasich on Monday with a clip from the 2012 Republican National Convention where Kasich said, &#8220;But Joe Biden told me he was a good golfer. And I played golf with Joe Biden, and I can tell you that&#8217;s not true, as well as all the other things that he says.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Here&#39;s John Kasich calling Joe Biden a liar in 2012. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DemConvention?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DemConvention</a> <a href="https://t.co/ep8eUQUHal">pic.twitter.com/ep8eUQUHal</a>
&mdash; Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) <a href="https://twitter.com/TrumpWarRoom/status/1295544372495351815?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 18, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
At the DNC convention on Monday night, Kasich said that he was &#8220;proud&#8221; of his &#8220;Republican heritage&#8221; but wanted to vote for Biden because he claims that Biden &#8220;is a good man, a man of faith, a unifier, someone who understands the hopes and dreams of the common man and the common woman, a man who can help us to see the humanity in each other.&#8221;
&#8220;Yes, there are areas where Joe and I absolutely disagree, but that’s okay, because that’s America,&#8221; Kasich continued. &#8220;Because whatever our differences, we respect one another as human beings, each of us searching for justice and for purpose.&#8221;
&#8220;I’m sure there are Republicans and independents who couldn’t imagine crossing over to support a Democrat,&#8221; Kasich added. &#8220;They fear Joe may turn sharp left and leave them behind. I don’t believe that, because I know the measure of the man, he’s reasonable, faithful, respectful, and you know no one pushes Joe around. Joe Biden is a man for our times, times that call for all of us to take off our partisan hats and put our nation first for ourselves, and of course for our children.&#8221;
Biden has <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-says-hed-most-progressive-president-history-tells-bernie-sanders-disown-1487567">stated</a> that if he is elected that he will go down as one of the most progressive presidents in U.S. history.

John Kasich Chris Christie

Christie Nukes Kasich: ‘Backstabber,’ ‘Untruthful,’ ‘Exhausting’; Biden Will Need New ‘Phone Number’

2020 Election

Chris Christie

Donald Trump

John Kasich, who ran a failed Republican presidential campaign in 2016, told CNN this week that he has a &#8220;right&#8221; to define what it means to be a conservative as he prepares to speak at the Democratic National Convention next week.
CNN host Erin Burnett highlighted examples in the past of politicians who crossed over the aisle to endorse a presidential nominee from an opposing party and then asked Kasich if he was worried about being &#8220;blackballed&#8221; by the GOP.
&#8220;I think I have a right to define what it means to be a conservative, and that means a government when necessary, not opposed to it. That what the conservative movement ought to be is opportunity for everyone,&#8221; Kasich said. &#8220;The Republican Party ought to be a party that has a positive message of lifting everyone.&#8221;
&#8220;But, you know, Erin, look. Leaders walk a lonely road. If you&#8217;re not prepared to walk a lonely road and do the things that your conscience tells you to do, then how do you think about yourself when you look in the mirror?&#8221; Kasich continued. &#8220;I mean, I&#8217;m comfortable with the decisions I make. Of course, there&#8217;s blowback. Republicans are critical. Some are praising me. Democrats are debating themselves. Should he be able to do this?&#8221;
&#8220;But this is not an unusual place for me to be,&#8221; Kasich added. &#8220;I&#8217;ve been a reformer almost all of my life. I&#8217;ve been very independent. I&#8217;m a Republican, but the Republican Party has always been my vehicle, but never my master. You have to do what you think is right in your heart, and I&#8217;m comfortable here.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
John Kasich: &quot;I think I have a right to define what it means to be a conservative.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/hyOM6KdrXG">pic.twitter.com/hyOM6KdrXG</a>
&mdash; The Hill (@thehill) <a href="https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1293205325881970689?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 11, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
TRANSCRIPT PROVIDED VIA CNN:
<blockquote>CNN HOST ERIN BURNETT: Tonight, one of the headline speakers during next week&#8217;s DNC will be a Republican, former Ohio governor and current CNN senior political commentator John Kasich will give a speech to make the case for Joe Biden. Governor Kasich is now OUTFRONT.
And, Governor, I appreciate your time.
So, you know, last time around obviously, you didn&#8217;t support Donald Trump. You wrote in another Republican, John McCain, for president, which is a far cry from actually supporting the Democratic candidate for president, right? You were anti-Trump but you were not taking that extra step. What changed?
JOHN KASICH, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Conscience, Erin. You know, the reason I didn&#8217;t support Trump the last time is I was afraid that he would be a divider and not a unifier, and our best leaders, historically, have been unifiers, Republicans and Democrats. But, unfortunately, as I&#8217;ve watched him over the last three and a half years now, he&#8217;s continued to do that. And I don&#8217;t think the country does well when we&#8217;re divided. And so I had to search my conscience. When the Democrats asked me to speak, I had to think about it. And I believe we need a new direction.
We just can&#8217;t keep going the way that we&#8217;re going because I know historically – and I served in the Congress, I was governor – what I&#8217;ve known is that when people work together, remarkable and good things can happen. But when we constantly are divided, when we can&#8217;t work together, you know, we can see what&#8217;s happening when we look at Washington even today.
So, it was necessary to do this, and I felt it&#8217;s the right thing to do, and I would encourage other Republicans to know that it’s 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.
BURNETT: You are a moderate, right? You are not someone who represents the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, which is hugely influential right now. Yet you are comfortable with Joe Biden. Why is that? What has made you come to the conclusion?
KASICH: First of all, I’m a conservative, which is the interesting thing. Why would I say that? Well, I was the chairman of the Budget Committee when we balanced the budget in Washington.
BURNETT: Yeah.
KASICH: We ran surpluses for a number of years and surpluses. And over here in Ohio, we fixed the state and cut taxes and grew almost a half a million jobs and left almost 3 billion in our rainy day fund for the governor we have now.
So I’m conservative. And people are going to say, ‘Oh, well, he&#8217;s really not.’ Yes I have been. But I believe that Biden can bring us together.
I&#8217;m going to disagree with Joe on things, and they expected that when they asked me to do this. I said, ‘Yeah, there&#8217;s things I&#8217;m going to disagree with Biden on. There&#8217;s things I&#8217;m concerned about.’
But at the end of the day, I think he’s a man of faith. I think he is a man – look, his history has been an ability to bring people together. That&#8217;s the way it was when I was in Congress, when we balanced the budget, [when we] were able to do welfare reform.
And I think he can restore civility, and I don&#8217;t think he&#8217;ll go hard left. I think he is a pretty tough guy. So I&#8217;m comfortable with the fact that he would be our leader. And I expect he&#8217;ll have Republicans that will be part of anything he does going forward. That&#8217;s the way – that’s his nature; that’s been his history. And he’s a man of deep faith and, you know, 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.
BURNETT: So, you know, what you’re doing is going to stand out. And it has when it has happened before. I&#8217;m thinking of Zell Miller, then Democratic senator, you know, who spoke for President Bush at the RNC in 2004. And then it was Joe Lieberman, who was an independent but caucused with the Democrats and in 2008, he spoke at the RNC and supported John McCain.
You know, they both became persona non grata in their party, right? They were, you know, blackballed. Are you worried the same could happen to you?
KASICH: I think I have a right to define what it means to be a conservative, and that means a government when necessary, not opposed to it. That what the conservative movement ought to be is opportunity for everyone. The Republican Party ought to be a party that has a positive message of lifting everyone.
But, you know, Erin, look. Leaders walk a lonely road. If you&#8217;re not prepared to walk a lonely road and do the things that your conscience tells you to do, then how do you think about yourself when you look in the mirror?
I mean, I&#8217;m comfortable with the decisions I make. Of course, there&#8217;s blowback. Republicans are critical. Some are praising me. Democrats are debating themselves. Should he be able to do this?
But this is not an unusual place for me to be. I&#8217;ve been a reformer almost all of my life. I&#8217;ve been very independent. I&#8217;m a Republican, but the Republican Party has always been my vehicle, but never my master. You have to do what you think is right in your heart,j and I&#8217;m comfortable here.
BURNETT: So, Southern Baptist minister, he’s ordained, Mike Huckabee, said the other day in part, ‘I don&#8217;t know if anybody, people of faith who think Joe Biden is a great choice. I tell you they&#8217;re not going to go with Biden. That&#8217;s not an option.’
What do you say?
KASICH: Well, I&#8217;m clued into a lot of people of faith, a number of them, who are very happy that I&#8217;m making this decision. I can give you names. I don&#8217;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, is that, you know, faith is a matter of your personal relationship. And so, I don&#8217;t know why that&#8217;s been said about Joe. I think he is a man of faith. I don&#8217;t sit down and talk about all of his religion with him. But I&#8217;m comfortable with him.
And like I say, I consider myself to be a man of faith. A flawed man of faith for sure, but aren&#8217;t we all? So I don&#8217;t think anybody can speak for the entire faith community and try to say that this person’s good and that person isn&#8217;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.
BURNETT: Right. Thank you very much, Governor Kasich. I appreciate your time.
KASICH: All right, Erin.
BURNETT: And, of course, Governor Kasich [is] going to be speaking next week at the convention for Joe Biden.</blockquote>

GOP Presidential Candidate John Kasich Participates In Television Town Hall Meeting

Failed Presidential Candidate John Kasich: ‘I Have A Right To Define What It Means To Be A Conservative’

Republican Party

China NBA

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Adam Silver

China

Chinese Communist Party

Hong Kong

Josh Hawley

LeBron James

Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who calls himself a Republican, is expected to speak at the Democratic National Convention next month and give presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden his endorsement.
The Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/99d19335011e2fb19035dc83ac2fb481">reported</a> that Biden’s campaign has been reaching out to Republicans who despise President Donald Trump, such as Kasich.
“Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a Republican and frequent Trump critic, has been approached and is expected to speak at the Democratic National Convention on Biden’s behalf next month, according to a person with direct knowledge of the plans who insisted on anonymity to discuss strategy. Kasich is among a handful of high-profile Republicans likely to become more active in supporting Biden in the fall,” the outlet reported.
Kasich, as governor of Ohio, willfully and unilaterally implemented Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion in his state, an optional program. He received criticism from conservatives in the state for supporting the healthcare law that created numerous problems in the healthcare industry and was opposed by every Republican in the Senate when it was passed during President Barack Obama’s first term.
Kasich still claims to be a Republican, and ran for president in 2016. He finished second behind Trump, but only because he didn’t drop out when he failed to get delegates like most candidates. By staying in, he ended up being a non-Trump option.
As the AP noted, Biden’s support – especially in Florida – “comes more from voters’ displeasure with Trump than excitement over Biden, whose regular gaffes, long Washington record and recent attempts to appease progressives leave him in a tougher spot than some Democrats would like to believe.”
The polls could also tighten by election day, narrowing the current gap between Trump and Biden.
More from the AP:
<blockquote>That happened in 2016 when <a href="https://apnews.com/fb2e92a47f054019a2589ace78d20836/Trump-claims-astounding-victory-as-America's-45th-president">Trump narrowly won the election</a> after trailing Hillary Clinton in the polls for months. The Democrats’ reluctance to enjoy the current moment reflects the sting of that loss, Biden’s nagging vulnerabilities and Trump’s mountain of campaign cash.
Trump’s campaign has reserved $146 million in television advertising this fall led by a $36.3 million investment in Florida alone, according to data compiled by Advertising Analytics. That’s more than double the next closest state, Ohio, where Trump has reserved $18.4 million. Biden, so far, hasn’t reserved any fall advertising, although he’s amassed a fortune in recent months that will allow him to compete, even if he can’t match Trump dollar for dollar.</blockquote>
Trump recently demoted his previous campaign manager and replaced him with GOP operative Bill Stepien. The media is taking this as a sign that Trump’s campaign is in trouble, yet Trump shook up his campaign in 2016 and ended up winning the election.
Trump’s staff still hopes to show Biden’s long record in Washington as detrimental to his campaign.
“A lot of people know Joe Biden. They don’t know about Joe Biden’s record. Right now, he is this blank canvas,” said Trump campaign director of delegates and party organization Nick Trainer. “As they get more and more information about what Joe Biden’s done and what he’ll do, I’m more and more confident.”

Joe Biden Courting Trump-Hating Republicans, Gets John Kasich To Speak At Democratic National Convention

Leftist CNN opinion host Don Lemon exploded on former Ohio Governor John Kasich during an interview on Wednesday night after Kasich said that President Donald Trump did a good job with his Oval Office address on the coronavirus earlier in the night.
Early on in the interview, while speaking about the address, Lemon repeatedly cut off Kasich while Kasich was trying to explain his thought&#8217;s on Trump&#8217;s speech.
&#8220;Can I finish now?&#8221; Kasich pressed. &#8220;Let me talk. Let me talk.&#8221;
&#8220;No, you can&#8217;t, John, because we are here to talk about the president&#8217;s –&#8221; Lemon responded.
&#8220;I can&#8217;t talk?&#8221; Kasich pressed.
Lemon, who has repeatedly claimed that he is not partisan or a liberal Democrat, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/cnns-don-lemon-claims-hes-not-some-liberal-democrat-im-not-a-partisan">responded</a>, &#8220;Wait, we are here – I don&#8217;t want you to go on and deflect and talk about something else because we are here to talk about the president&#8217;s address. And you said that someone else wrote it. He&#8217;s the president. Even if someone else wrote it, it should be right.&#8221;
After some cross-talk, the exchange continued.
&#8220;I think his address tonight, I think it was fine,&#8221; Kasich said. &#8220;I think it was fine. That&#8217;s what I think.&#8221;
&#8220;You think the wrong – you think inaccurate information that you have to come back and clarify two or three times, you think that&#8217;s fine?&#8221; Lemon pressed.
&#8220;Look, I thought he did fine. That&#8217;s what I thought. I thought he had the right tone. And he no longer played around with we&#8217;re going to blame Democrats or we&#8217;re – forget this stuff. He – I hope he&#8217;s trying to move forward because he understands the seriousness of this situation,&#8221; Kasich responded. &#8220;Now, the fact that they clarify, it isn&#8217;t unusual in a speech for somebody to clarify something. Okay? But I don&#8217;t think that the tone he showed tonight takes away from some clarification. I think he set a serious tone. That&#8217;s what I wanted out of him for a long time. And I think we got it.&#8221;
&#8220;I can be serious and sit here and tell you four plus four equals 85. I am serious. That doesn&#8217;t mean that I&#8217;m right,” Lemon said. “The information he gave was not right. You have to come back and clarify several times, information that you gave. Listen, I tried to cut him a break at the top of the show.”
&#8220;You mean, like, who&#8217;s going to get back into the country?&#8221; Kasich responded. &#8220;You mean – what is it [in] the clarification that you thought was so terrible? Tell me what you thought about, that you took away from the seriousness of the speech.&#8221;
&#8220;I didn&#8217;t say I thought it was terrible. I&#8217;m telling you that we are in the middle of a pandemic right now. We&#8217;re in the middle of a pandemic,&#8221; Lemon responded. &#8220;And every time this president comes out, he gives inaccurate information. So, I don&#8217;t understand why he would even come out and do it at all if he is going to confuse the American people even more. You don&#8217;t understand that? You&#8217;re a governor. I&#8217;m surprised that you don&#8217;t understand that. If you&#8217;re not going to help – if you&#8217;re not going to be accurate, why do it?&#8221;
WATCH:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PvF4UJqiFc

CNN Host Don Lemon

CNN’s Don Lemon Explodes On John Kasich: ‘No, You Can’t’ Talk

COVID

Don Lemon

Less than a day after accepting a lucrative contract to lobby congress against Russia sanctions, a former John Kasich adviser has announced he is now backtracking and will reject the agreement.
John Weaver has worked on many failed presidential campaigns &#8212; John McCain&#8217;s, John Huntsman&#8217;s, and Kasich&#8217;s &#8212; and on Wednesday accepted a contract worth $350,000 to lobby against sanctions on Russia. Weaver and his former boss Kasich had previously accused President Donald Trump&#8217;s campaign of colluding with Russia to steal the 2016 election. Weaver had also previously mocked the Trump administration for being weak on Russia sanctions.
Thursday afternoon, after numerous media outlets (<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/47290/john-kasich-adviser-who-repeatedly-cried-collusion-ashe-schow">including The Daily Wire</a>) pointed out the hypocrisy, Weaver announced on Twitter he would no longer accept the contract and instead work to ensure Trump is not re-elected.
&#8220;Nothing is more vital to America &amp; the world than dispatching @realDonaldTrump &amp; his low travelers from the WH,&#8221; Weaver tweeted. &#8220;While I fear the dangers of nuclear proliferation &amp; know a stable uranium market is important to the USA&#8217;s national &amp; economic security &#8212; &amp; experts urged this &#8212; my laser focus is on 2020 &amp; playing any role &#8212; major or minor &#8212; in ensuring Trump serves only 1 term. To allow anything to distract from that is a mistake.&#8221;
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
my laser focus is on 2020 &amp; playing any role &#8212; major or minor &#8212; in ensuring Trump serves only 1 term. To allow anything to distract from that is a mistake. And I can recognize a mistake when I make it. My attorney has contacted Tenam this morning &amp; informed them
&#8212; John Weaver (@jwgop) <a href="https://twitter.com/jwgop/status/1129048492385734656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 16, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
He added: &#8220;And I can recognize a mistake when I make it. My attorney has contacted Tenam this morning &amp; informed them I must reject this agreement. No funds were transferred, no actions taken. Now, I&#8217;ve got to get back to the barricades. Apologies for the momentary distraction.&#8221;
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I must reject this agreement. No funds were transferred, no actions taken. Now, I&#8217;ve got to get back to the barricades. Apologies for the momentary distraction.
&#8212; John Weaver (@jwgop) <a href="https://twitter.com/jwgop/status/1129048493363027970?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 16, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
Just four months ago, Weaver was accusing the Trump administration of being soft on Russia, tweeting, &#8220;Of course Trump ended the sanctions on [Russian oligarch Oleg] Deripaska. You think Putin invested all of that just for chaos?&#8221; He also tweeted, &#8220;The &#8216;president*&#8217; gave Russia two huge gifts today &#8230; the decision by tweet to abandon Syria &amp; overturning sanctions on Putin&#8217;s oligarch best friends. #NotShocked #OneTermOrLess.&#8221;
Weaver also tweeted on April 18, 2019: &#8220;This is collusion. This is conspiracy,&#8221; in relation to a section of Special Counsel Robert Mueller&#8217;s report that discussed former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort sharing internal polling with his Ukraine business associate Konstantin Kilimnik.
As for working against Trump&#8217;s re-election bid, the president probably shouldn&#8217;t be worried about Weaver. Weaver worked on both of late Sen. John McCain&#8217;s (R-AZ) failed presidential bids &#8212; in 2000 and 2008. In 2012, he advised former Utah Gov. John Kasich&#8217;s presidential election campaign and in 2016, he advised Kasich&#8217;s campaign. Oh, and let&#8217;s not forget that he was a political strategist for George H.W. Bush through his failed re-election bid in 1992.
The man keeps getting hired as an adviser despite an impressive history of failure.
Weaver had claimed he would &#8220;work with Congress and, hopefully, make sure they don&#8217;t come up with something vis-a-vis Russia that ends up hurting the United States.&#8221; He was also set to make $350,000 for a six-month contract, plus expenses and a potential extension.

THAT WAS QUICK: Kasich Aide Drops Contract To Lobby Against Russia Sanctions After Backlash

Russia

The Washington, D.C. swamp is full of hypocrites, but it is not every day when one&#8217;s hypocrisy is on full display as it is right this minute for former Gov. John Kasich (R-OH) adviser John Weaver.
For the past two years, Weaver and his former boss have stoked the Russia-collusion narrative &#8212; going so far as to suggest Special Counsel Robert Mueller was wrong not to charge former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort with conspiracy because he gave internal polling data to a Ukraine associate. On April 18, 2019, Weaver <a href="https://twitter.com/jwgop/status/1118897442127319047">tweeted</a>, &#8220;This is collusion. This is conspiracy,&#8221; in response to a section of Mueller&#8217;s final report detailing Manafort&#8217;s interactions with his associate Konstantin Kilimnik, whom the media suggested had ties to Russian intelligence.
Just last week, Kasich <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/john-kasich-russia-meddling-interference-mueller-report-elections-donald-1418924">explained to</a> CNN&#8217;s Don Lemon the Russian involvement found in Mueller&#8217;s report.
&#8220;And part of the Mueller report, from my understanding, is that it outlines exactly many of the ways in which the Russians got involved. Think about this &#8212; the Russians. When I was a kid, we used to hide under the desk thinking we were going to have a nuclear war because of what was happening in Cuba,&#8221; Kasich said.
&#8220;They are interfering in our election, there is no doubt about that. They tried to manipulate us, and nobody is doing anything about it,&#8221; he added. &#8220;I don&#8217;t understand that. It doesn&#8217;t make any sense to me.&#8221;
Now Kasich&#8217;s former 2016 campaign adviser &#8212; who has worked on numerous failed presidential bids, to be sure &#8212; has filed as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agent Registration Act in order to lobby U.S. lawmakers against Russian sanctions. This is the same adviser who previously told The Associated Press: &#8220;When a campaign manager gives a Russian agent polling data, what is that?&#8221;
Weaver now claims, in <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2019/05/15/lobbying-against-russia-sanctions-weaver-kasich-1327880">a statement</a> to Politico, that he will &#8220;work with Congress and, hopefully, make sure they don&#8217;t come up with something vis-a-vis Russia that ends up hurting the United States.&#8221;
As Bonchie <a href="https://www.redstate.com/bonchie/2019/05/15/guess-john-kasich-adviser-relentlessly-pushed-collusion-hoax-just-registered/">wrote at Redstate</a>, Weaver is trying to make it seem like he is doing something beneficial to the United States, when in reality he&#8217;s just collecting a huge paycheck. Weaver has signed a six-month contract worth $350,000 &#8220;plus expenses, with an option to extend if necessary,&#8221; Politico reported.
Weaver&#8217;s statement is even more hilarious when you consider his <a href="https://twitter.com/MichaelDuncan/status/1128840730909261825?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1128840730909261825&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.redstate.com%2Fbonchie%2F2019%2F05%2F15%2Fguess-john-kasich-adviser-relentlessly-pushed-collusion-hoax-just-registered%2F">past views</a> on sanctions against Russia. On January 27, 2019, Weaver tweeted: &#8220;Of course Trump ended the sanctions on [Russian oligarch Oleg] Deripaska. You think Putin invested all of that just for chaos?&#8221; In another tweet, Weaver said, &#8220;The &#8216;president*&#8217; gave Russia two huge gifts today &#8230; the decision by tweet to abandon Syria &amp; overturning sanctions on Putin&#8217;s oligarch best friends. #NotShocked #OneTermOrLess.&#8221;
As my Federalist colleague Sean Davis wrote in response to the news about Weaver:
&#8220;You have got to be kidding me. This pathetic hack spent the last two years accusing everyone to his right of being a secret Russian agent, and now he&#8217;s the one getting paid by corrupt Russians?&#8221;
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You have got to be kidding me. This pathetic hack spent the last two years accusing everyone to his right of being a secret Russian agent, and now he&#8217;s the one getting paid by corrupt Russians? <a href="https://t.co/OjipPbCpgQ">https://t.co/OjipPbCpgQ</a>
&#8212; Sean Davis (@seanmdav) <a href="https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/1128849723325112327?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 16, 2019</a></blockquote>
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John Kasich Adviser Who Repeatedly Cried Collusion Registers As Foreign Agent To Lobby Against Russian Sanctions

Pro-lifers in Ohio are celebrating having a &#8220;real&#8221; pro-life representative in the governor&#8217;s mansion after Governor Mike DeWine, a Republican, signed a so-called &#8220;heartbeat bill&#8221; into law on Thursday &#8212; legislation that was twice vetoed by allegedly pro-life former Governor John Kasich.
&#8220;The signing of this bill today is consistent with that respect for life and the imperative to protect those who cannot protect themselves,&#8221; DeWine said before signing the bill, <a href="https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/2019/04/11/ohio-gov-mike-dewine-signs-heartbeat-abortion-bill/3437541002/">according</a> to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
The legislation protects unborn babies with beating hearts, which can be detectable at around six weeks gestation, from the fatal procedure of abortion.
The bill, which includes an exception for the life of the mother, was introduced to the House on Tuesday and signed by the governor by 3:30 p.m. local time on Thursday.
A <a href="https://www.apnews.com/3a9b3bc0e14d47aa8691aca84c32f391">handful</a> of states have passed heartbeat protections for the unborn, such as Mississippi and Kentucky. Republican Governor Brian Kemp of Georgia, who&#8217;s been threatened by Hollywood actors with a boycott, currently has such legislation awaiting his signature.
&#8220;Pro-life Ohio thanks Governor DeWine for taking a courageous stand on behalf of unborn children with beating hearts,&#8221; praised Ohio Right to Life President Mike Gonidakis.
Janet Porter, pro-life advocate and the &#8220;architect&#8221; of the Ohio &#8220;heartbeat&#8221; bills, was overjoyed by the prospect of Gov. DeWine signing the legislation. During an interview soon after the bill passed the state House and Senate, Porter praised DeWine and took a swipe at Kasich: &#8220;We&#8217;ve been talking about how we were gonna end abortion. Today, it happened,&#8221; she said, adding,&#8220;We finally have a pro-life governor. And it&#8217;s just a great day here in Ohio.&#8221;
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Gov. Mike DeWine is expected to sign the Ohio Heartbeat Bill this afternoon! Stay tuned!
Watch Mark and Janet Porter discuss the passage of this 6-week abortion ban in the Ohio General Assembly yesterday. <a href="https://t.co/ZATOWZTcyk">pic.twitter.com/ZATOWZTcyk</a>
&#8212; Created Equal (@createdequalorg) <a href="https://twitter.com/createdequalorg/status/1116364411416076288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Kasich, who signed a 20-week abortion ban during his tenure in office, claimed he couldn&#8217;t sign the bill over concerns &#8220;about the legal bill taxpayers would foot,&#8221; according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
&#8220;Today is a historic day,&#8221; said Created Equal President Mark Harrington in a statement sent to The Daily Wire. &#8220;The legislature and Governor DeWine have declared that no longer should the beating hearts of humans too young to be born be violently torn apart by abortion.&#8221;
&#8220;If pro-abortion lobbies present a legal challenge to this Act, we will defend these babies all the way up to the Supreme Court. Changes on the bench signify an even better day for preborn babies may be on the horizon,&#8221; he added.
Such challenges have already rolled in. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has already promised a lawsuit.
WATCH:
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&#8220;The government&#8217;s role should be to protect life from the beginning to the end,&#8221; DeWine said.
Ohio governor signs ban on abortion after 1st heartbeat. Opponents in Ohio have already vowed to sue. <a href="https://t.co/JqFONOAtnI">https://t.co/JqFONOAtnI</a> <a href="https://t.co/8SgeL6MwZI">pic.twitter.com/8SgeL6MwZI</a>
&#8212; WLWT (@WLWT) <a href="https://twitter.com/WLWT/status/1116435646103597065?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
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WATCH: Ohio Governor Signs Bill Protecting Babies With Detectable Heartbeats From Abortion. Former Governor John Kasich Vetoed It Twice.

Ohio

According to a leftist comedienne, former Ohio governor John Kasich, forced out of his seat in first-class because a pilot needed it, took her seat and <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6648687/Former-Ohio-gov-John-Kasich-stole-comedians-class-seat-Alaska-Airlines-flight.html">refused to relinquish it</a>.
Comedienne Julie Klausner claims that she was flying from New York to San Francisco on January 16 and Kasich was asked to give up his seat in first class to a pilot who needed to sleep on the flight so he could fly a plane back from San Francisco . Klausner said Kasich was asked to move to the premium economy cabin because he had paid less for his seat than the other first-class passengers.
Klausner said that instead, Kasich sat in her seat, as she was not in the cabin yet, then made a phone call complaining about the pilot who was in Kasich&#8217;s original seat. On her podcast &#8220;<a href="http://www.howwasyourweek.com/poppins-grappling-ep-230/">How Was Your Week?</a>&#8221; Klausner stated that when she reached her seat, Kasich did not respond while she and the airline staff stood there and discussed how to fix the problem. Klausner claims she did not know at the time who Kasich was, but she offered to take a later flight. She said:
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I am standing at the front and John Kasich is sitting there, either talking on his cell or on his cell phone. He knows I&#8217;m standing right in front of him because that&#8217;s my seat. Finally a ticket agent comes on the plane and looks and sees that John Kasich is sitting there and he shook his head and he says, &#8220;This guy was downgraded and he refused to go into the seat he was newly assigned and he sat in yours and that&#8217;s your seat&#8221; &#8230; Instead of saying, &#8220;Okay, I&#8217;m going to go sit in 12C which has the extra legroom,&#8221; she said it was premium and not economy, he got really mad and was a total d**k to the staff and sat in my seat instead. That is what was told to me.
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Klausner tweeted on January 16, &#8220;Omg this is insane. Kasich was asked to move to premium from first class &amp; took my seat instead. I volunteered to take a later flight instead of fighting. <a data-mentioned-user-id="14970665" href="https://twitter.com/alaskaairlines">@alaskaairlines</a>, your employees are the BEST, sweetest people. And thanks, airport employees, for working without pay today.&#8221;
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Omg this is insane. Kasich was asked to move to premium from first class &amp; took my seat instead. I volunteered to take a later flight instead of fighting. <a href="https://twitter.com/alaskaairlines?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@alaskaairlines</a>, your employees are the BEST, sweetest people. And thanks, airport employees, for working without pay today. <a href="https://t.co/vmnBEIds0S">https://t.co/vmnBEIds0S</a>
&#8212; Julie Klausner (@julieklausner) <a href="https://twitter.com/julieklausner/status/1085584290778415106?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 16, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Klausner claimed the airline staff &#8220;vented&#8221; to her for &#8220;15 minutes about how much they disliked people like Kasich&#8221;; she said, &#8220;They were basically saying, &#8216;we just say that guys like this push people around and they get what they want.'&#8221;
<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/john-kasich-takes-heat-from-comedian-after-allegedly-stealing-her-seat-on-airplane">Fox News</a> reported that Klausner later said, &#8220;The funny thing about it is when I tweeted about it, I realized people on both sides hate him. Because I guess Republicans hate him because he&#8217;s like, you know, not fascist enough, and then obviously people on our side hate him because he&#8217;s just a bad person. Just having interacted with him or interacted near him, I never met anyone so d&#8212;&#8211;y and obnoxious and just dripping with disdain for people who in his mind aren&#8217;t as important as he is. I hope he &#8212; I don&#8217;t know. I hope he goes away forever. He sucks.&#8221;
A spokesman for Kasich stated, &#8220;There was confusion about seating, the airline had given a pilot the Governor&#8217;s seat and then chaos ensued. He&#8217;s sorry someone lost a seat.&#8221;
An Alaska Airlines spokesman said simply, &#8220;We&#8217;re very appreciative to Ms. Klausner for helping diffuse an awkward situation by voluntarily giving up her seat.&#8221;

Leftist Comedienne Rails At Kasich For Allegedly Stealing Her Airplane Seat: ‘People On Both Sides Hate Him’

Demonstrating once again his penchant for moral cowardice, Ohio Gov. John Kasich vetoed a bill on Friday that would have banned abortions on unborn babies with detectable heartbeats.
According to <a href="https://www.lifenews.com/2018/12/21/ohio-gov-john-kasich-vetoes-bill-to-ban-abortions-after-unborn-babys-heartbeat-begins/">LifeNews</a>, Gov. Kasich vetoed the bill arguing that it would not survive in a court challenge. He did the same in 2016 for similar reasons. The difference between then and now, however, is the addition of Justice Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court &#8211; the bill could theoretically survive if it went that far. Kasich also argued that the legal challenges would cost taxpayers too much money.
&#8220;As governor I have worked hard to strengthen Ohio&#8217;s protections for the sanctity of human life, and I have a deep respect for my fellow members of the pro-life community and their ongoing efforts in defense of unborn life,&#8221; <a href="https://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2018/12/21/john-kasich-vetoes-ohio-heartbeat-bill">he said in a statement</a>. &#8220;However, the central provision of Sub. H.B. 258, that an abortion cannot be performed if a heartbeat has been detected in the unborn child, is contrary to the Supreme Court of the United States&#8217; current rulings on abortion.&#8221;
&#8220;As the losing party, the state of Ohio will be forced to pay hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to cover the legal fees for the pro-choice activists&#8217; lawyers,&#8221; Kasich added.
State House Bill 258 passed in a 58-35 vote and sailed through the State Senate. Most abortions in Ohio would be effectively banned had Kasich signed it into law.
&#8220;The controversial legislation would ban most abortions in Ohio if it becomes law,&#8221; reported <a href="https://www.lifenews.com/2018/11/15/ohio-house-passes-bill-to-ban-all-abortions-after-an-unborn-babys-heartbeat-begins/">LifeNews</a> in November. &#8220;An unborn baby&#8217;s heart begins beating around six weeks, though <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3833015/A-baby-s-heart-beats-just-16-days-conception-Heartbeat-breakthrough-lead-new-cures-congenital-disease.html">new research suggests it may begin as early as 18 days after conception</a>.&#8221;
Abortion providers could also be charged with a felony for breaking the law by killing a baby with a detected heartbeat.
Proponents of the new law said the potential legal challenges should not matter.
&#8220;The point is: it&#8217;s time. It doesn&#8217;t matter if the governor is with us or against us,&#8221; said state Rep. Christina Hagan, a sponsor of the bill. &#8220;Motherhood isn&#8217;t easy but it&#8217;s necessary.&#8221;
Other pro-life (largely female) lawmakers pushed similar arguments.
&#8220;(Abortion) is not a constitutional right,&#8221; said Rep. Candice Keller (R-Middletown). &#8220;If you don&#8217;t know that, you need to read the Constitution.&#8221;
&#8220;Today, let us stand up for the most innocent among us: the unborn,&#8221; Rep. Kristina Roegner said.
To Kasich&#8217;s credit, he <a href="https://www.lifenews.com/2018/12/21/ohio-bans-dismemberment-abortions-tearing-babies-limb-from-limb/">did sign a second pro-life bill on Friday</a> that bans dismemberment abortions, which are commonly committed against fully formed second-trimester babies.
Heartbeat bills in favor of the unborn have been passed in both North Dakota and Arkansas but were later overturned by the courts. In the ruling, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals said such laws violate Supreme Court precedent.
&#8220;Because there is no genuine dispute that (North Dakota&#8217;s law) generally prohibits abortions before viability &#8212; as the Supreme Court has defined that concept &#8212; and because we are bound by Supreme Court precedent holding that states may not prohibit pre-viability abortions, we must affirm the district court&#8217;s grant of summary judgment to the plaintiffs,&#8221; the court said.
The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of the case in 2016, but that was when Justice Anthony Kennedy resided on the bench. Kennedy&#8217;s replacement, Justice Kavanaugh, has not indicated if he would grant a hearing to such a case if the time came.

SPINELESS RINO: Ohio Gov. Kasich Vetoes Fetal Heartbeat Abortion Bill

In a great stride to protect the sanctity of human life, the Ohio State Senate <a href="https://www.liveaction.org/news/ohio-senate-banning-abortion-heartbeat/?fbclid=IwAR0wbzDGF-9MofG9P4XkTkjsmk_P41U4FzBDpN5wgrPN6OVsoeZHUd6XzQ8">passed the &#8220;Heartbeat Bill&#8221;</a> Wednesday that would ban abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected. The bill had already passed out of the Ohio House by a strong majority, but because the Senate amended the bill, it went back to the House. The House quickly passed the bill in concurrence, and it will now go to Gov. John Kasich&#8212;and his veto is likely. Ohio pro-life advocacy groups are hopeful the legislature will have time and be willing to convene for a veto override because of the magnitude of this bill&#8217;s importance.
Ohio&#8217;s action is one of the <a href="https://www.liveaction.org/news/ohio-pro-life-state-country/">strongest pro-life legislative measures in the country</a> because it would require an abdominal ultrasound to detect a heartbeat. When a heartbeat is detected (as early as 5-6 weeks), an abortion at that stage would be illegal. The bill also empowers the State Medical Board of Ohio to suspend physicians&#8217; licenses for medical practitioners who are found to violate the law, even where there is not an associated criminal conviction. Democrat-proffered amendments that sought exemptions were also tabled, <a href="https://www.daytondailynews.com/news/heartbeat-abortion-bill-passes-ohio-senate/VLB1GxSL0mnvLpjrteVbJL/">reportedly</a> along party lines.
Pro-life advocacy and conservative policy groups, including the James Dobson Family Institute and Live Action, are encouraged by the passage of this solid measure to protect life and support the legislation. This comes as a welcome opportunity for Ohio to lead other states in reclaiming their constitutional authority to determine law on sanctity of life issues.
Aaron Baer, president of Citizens for Community Values in Ohio, said, &#8220;Planned Parenthood and abortion activists launched an all-out assault on the Ohio General Assembly. Yet our state leaders ignored the attacks and stood strong for life.&#8221;
Although pro-life laws will almost certainly be challenged in court, state legislatures should be emboldened to continue to pass robust sanctity of life measures, especially because of the new conservative majority on the Supreme Court. Even prior to Justice Brett Kavanaugh taking the bench, the Court was already trending back toward a proper model of federalism, with decisions such as Murphy v. NCAA and Janus v. AFSCME. States constitutionally have authority to determine their own laws on sanctity of life <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/32567/ellis-originalists-would-overturn-roe-obergefell-jenna-ellis">if for no other reason than as a simple procedural issue.</a>
But perhaps most compellingly, as Josh Craddock succinctly <a href="https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2017/08/19758/">writes</a>, governments are obligated to preserve and protect the right to life at all stages of development as a substantive moral and legitimate legal authority issue:
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&#8220;The structure of the argument is simple. The Fourteenth Amendment&#8217;s use of the word &#8216;person&#8217; guarantees due process and equal protection to all members of the human species. The preborn are members of the human species from the moment of fertilization. Therefore, the Fourteenth Amendment protects the preborn. If one concedes the minor premise (that preborn humans are biological members of the human species), all that must be demonstrated is that the term &#8216;person,&#8217; in its original public meaning at the time of the Fourteenth Amendment&#8217;s adoption, applied to all members of the human species.&#8221;
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Even in <a href="http://constitutionus.com/">its original text</a>, the Constitution recognizes the government&#8217;s obligation to protect the rights of the individual, and the Founders understood the innate personhood of the unborn and all the rights and privileges that come with being human. <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2017/02/ninth-circuit-travel-ban-decision-united-states-constitution-unalienable-rights-privileges-alexander-hamilton/">Rights are unalienable</a>, as a Jeffersonian term in the Declaration of Independence, and this is also a concept derived directly from real property law: A presently unborn child&#8217;s right to inherit property in the future is legally protected. In this way, the unborn currently enjoy more protections in their right to own property than in their right to own their own life. This is absurd.
The Founders clearly intended to protect all the rights of the yet unborn and the future generations of Americans, with the right to life being the foundational and most basic and essential right. Without life, one cannot enjoy or exercise any other right, including property rights.
Now, Ohio stands poised to reclaim its legislative&#8212;and moral&#8212;authority. The big problem now is Gov. Kasich, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/38605/kasich-preparing-2020-says-hell-veto-two-hank-berrien">who is thought to be reserving a veto</a> until the last possible moment to prevent a veto override, and time is running out. If the legislature isn&#8217;t successful in an override, it would have to start with a new bill in January. Incoming Ohio Governor-Elect Mike DeWine has said he would sign the legislation, but it would have to go through the legislative process anew. Under Ohio state law, the legislature could override a Kasich veto with 20 House votes and 60 Senate votes.
Because of the short timeframe to sign the Heartbeat Bill into law this year, conservative policy groups are asking families in Ohio to contact their legislators and Gov. Kasich&#8217;s office to affirm the legislation and to persevere all the way to the finish line for every beating heart.
As Baer so rightly concluded, &#8220;Every year, tens of thousands of children lose their lives to abortion. Gov. Kasich has tried to claim he is a compassionate and caring leader. But actions speak louder than words. If he really cares for the most vulnerable, he must sign the Heartbeat Bill.&#8221;

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