Kasich: Country has many ‘lonely’ people

Republican presidential candidate John Kasich said Friday that it is “a privilege” comforting his supporters in need like the grieving man he embraced in South Carolina the day before.

“Look, I didn’t expect to be doing this, but I can do it,” the Kasich told host Chris Cuomo on CNN’s “New Day.” “I’ve done it for a lot of years now where people tell me certain things. It’s a privilege. I don’t need to overthink this.”

{mosads}Kasich said many people feel isolated by the challenges they face and need comfort.

“I’ve become convinced that there’s a lot of people out there across our country who are lonely,” he said.

“It has not been unusual for me to see,” Kasich added of his emotional moment the previous afternoon. “What was going through my mind [yesterday] was, ‘This is happening again.’”

Kasich hugged a supporter in Clemson, S.C., on Thursday after the man credited him with boosting his spirits amid hardship. The supporter expressed gratitude for Kasich’s positive message, saying it had helped him overcome the suicide of a father figure, the divorce of his parents and his father losing his job.

“The Lord will give you strength,” Kasich told the town hall attendee while gripping him tightly.

Kasich said it’s not the first emotional moment he’s had on the campaign trail this year.

“I had a woman pleading with me about the problem of epilepsy just the day before yesterday. I had a guy drive from New York to talk to me about his son’s illness. It’s been happening.”