Republican Governor Says Trump Makes People Into Victims, Encourages them to Blame Others, and Will Never Heal or Unite

Ohio Governor John Kasich, a possible 2020 candidate, slammed Donald Trump for dividing the country by playing the "blame game."

"What I have resented and disliked about the president is instead of being a unifier and someone who can dig deep into people's problems and say 'yes those are problems, but together we can fix them,' he has played a blame game," Kasich commented during a speech in New Hampshire at the Loeb School's First Amendment Gala on Thursday.

"He has allowed people to consider themselves victims," Kasich said, and fostered the idea in them that if good things failed to happen it is "because somebody else did this to you".

Kasich ran against Trump in the Republican primary in 2016, becoming one of the last conservative politicians to challenge the billionaire before eventually conceding the party's nomination. After the loss Kasich remained hesitant to support Trump, telling reporters at the time that 'You know, it's painful. It's painful."

Now as the Ohio governor considers another run at the presidency, he is taking aim at Trump's more controversial rhetoric and messaging over the past two years.

"He has allowed people to consider themselves victims… It's not personal, I just completely disagree with it," Kasich said. The longtime Republican went on to say that he has "held out hope for a couple years" that the president would become a unifying presence for Americans. But now he is "convinced he can't."

Kasich doesn't just blame Trump and says that other lawmakers across the country have also been lacking in leadership.

"Remember it's not just the president letting us down, it's politicians across the board who have not shown the leadership qualities of putting somebody else before them and their political career," he added.

While Kasich did not comment on any specific instances in which Trump had been playing the "blame game", his presidency has been defined by setting groups against each other, and by riling his supporters with the idea that immigrants, Democrats, the financier George Soros and a list of others are secretly plotting against them. One of those supporters recently sent pipe bombs to those Trump had singled out.

Kasich has not explicitly said that he is going to challenge Trump in the Republican primary in 2020, but has hinted at making a run for the presidency as a "third-party" candidate.

Speaking at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire this week Kasich said he would not want a 2020 campaign to "diminish" his voice.

"In terms of politics, I can't tell you because I don't know what the environment is. What I don't want to do is to try to go back into it again and then diminish my voice," he said.