Donald Trump’s rivals have begun to hedge in their responses to questions about whether they would support the GOP frontrunner if he were to become the Republican Party’s nominee for president.
Speaking on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Sunday morning, Ohio Gov. John Kasich said of Trump, “I would like to support the nominee. But he’s not going to be the nominee. That’s just not going to happen.
“But I said at the last debate he makes it difficult,” Kasich continued. “And we will see how this goes. I mean, we have to — he’s got to have — begin to lift people and stop dividing people. And the toxic environment must end. This is not making us proud.”
Earlier, the Ohio governor noted that Trump has “created a very toxic atmosphere. … There’s no doubt that he’s run this divisive campaign.”
Kasich concluded by saying that people around the world look at videos of Trump rallies and “are shaking their heads … saying, what the heck has happened to America?” But, in his view, “We will be fine. The people are smart. They’re going to make the right decision, in my opinion.”
Meanwhile, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that Trump “has turned the most important election in a generation into a circus, into a complete fiasco and a carnival.”
He added, in response to a query from host Jake Tapper, that he is “very concerned” that someone could lose their life, adding “I think that all the gates of civility have been blown apart.”
As a result, the Republican establishment favorite said that he is starting to question his own pledge to support Trump as the party’s nominee.
“It’s getting harder every day to justify that statement to myself, to my children, to my family, and to the people that support me,” Rubio said. “This country deserves better. At some point, people have to wake up here. This is really going to do damage to America.”