Kasich: ‘I don’t know’ if I’m running for president

Gov. John Kasich (R-Ohio) left the door open Monday to a presidential run in the near future.

“I don’t know,” Kasich told the panel on “The View,” when asked if he would run for president after he steps down as governor in January.  “I mean all of my options are on the table.”

Kasich said it would be “pretty hard” to run as a Republican because that’s “locked down.”

{mosads}”But I think for the first time, there is a legitimate chance for a third party candidate,” he said.

“Because if you have the Republicans on the extreme and the Democrats on the extreme, there is a big wide open space in the middle,” he explained.

“So all of my options are on the table.”

Kasich was defeated in the 2016 Republican presidential primaries by Donald Trump, who ultimately defeated Hillary Clinton in the national elections.

Kasich was one of the last GOP primary candidates besides Trump and has been an outspoken critic of Trump since his election.

While most conservatives seem prepped to back Trump in his 2020 reelection bid, some of the president’s other passionate critics among Republicans have voiced an interest in someone challenging him.

“I do hope that somebody does run in the primary against the president. I think the Republicans need to be reminded of what conservatism really is and what it means to be decent, and we haven’t had that kind of politics lately,” retiring Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) said last month.