Ohio's Republican governor John Kasich had some choice words for President Donald Trump last week.
"Sometimes when you’re frustrated, it’s best just to sit on your hands and keep your mouth shut," Kasich said, referring to the President's repeated attacks on the press and judiciary during his first year in the White House.
Kasich shared these words on a media call previewing Freedom in the World 2018, an annual report compiled by Freedom House, a non-partisan, independent watchdog organization.
Kasich shared the call with Madeline Albright, former Secretary of State, and Michael Abramowitz, the president of Freedom House.
The organization's yearly report offers an assessment of political rights and civil liberties country by country around the world.
According to this year's report, the United States saw declines in its political rights due to growing evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 election campaign, violations of basic ethical standards by the new administration and a reduction in government transparency.
The report also noted the United States' diminishing influence throughout the world.
“The Trump administration has made a sharp break from the political consensus of the last 70 years by casting aside democracy as the animating force behind American foreign policy,” Abramowitz said. “The hastening withdrawal of the United States from its historical commitment to supporting democracy overseas makes the challenge posed by authoritarian regimes all the more powerful and threatening.”
The 'mouth shut' comment was made by the governor of Ohio as he expressed fear that autocrats around the world may see the President's attacks on the press and feel emboldened to take similar actions in their own countries.
The report, and Kasich's remarks, were embargoed until the report's release Tuesday morning. They were made before Trump made a crude comment about some foreign nations. He later denied making the comment.
Kasich, a former GOP candidate in the 2016 presidential election and currently in his second term as Governor, also voiced his frustration with the Trump administration's recent decisions concerning immigration.
Kasich said he was outraged by the White House's decision to eliminate the temporary residency permits for an estimated 200,000 Salvadorans, exposing them to possible deportation in 2019.
Salvadorans were first allowed to apply for temporary protected status by the George W. Bush administration after major earthquakes devastated parts of El Salvador in 2001, causing many to flee the country.
The governor also lambasted members of Congress on both sides of the aisle for not doing more to resolve the status of Dreamers and DACA recipients, referring to those who were brought into the country illegally as children.
"I’m outraged by DACA. I’m outraged by the deportation of 200,000 Salvadorans who have been living here for a long time, tearing families apart, shipping them out of the country, I just think it’s outrageous, on both parties," said Kasich.
"What I don’t understand is, why can the Congress just not pass something to protect the Dreamers? Why do they (the Dreamers) have to be a pawn in the negotiation? Why do we have to say ‘well, if we don’t get a wall, we’re not going to let them stay.’ ...These are people who came here as children and now they’re being used as pawns in a political debate."
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy, created by former President Barack Obama, granted temporary citizenship to an estimated 800,000 minors who were brought into the country illegally when they were children. The policy was rescinded by the Trump administration in September, and the President gave Congress until March to figure out a solution.
Trump and GOP lawmakers are trying to strike a deal with Democrats over DACA. Trump has repeatedly stated no deal will be made if funding for a border wall isn't passed by Congress.
Defeated by Trump in the Republican party’s primary for the 2016 presidential election, Kasich has effectively positioned himself as GOP critic-in-chief of the commander-in-chief.
He frequently accepts invitations to appear on national cable news shows to voice his opposition to a number of White House’s priorities and stances on health care, immigration, foreign and domestic policy.
