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Kasich: Trump ‘clearly not prepared’ for the presidency

Republican presidential candidate, Ohio Gov. John Kasich speaks during a news conference in New York, Thursday, March 31, 2016. Kasich is convinced he can swing hundreds of delegates to swing his way at a contested summer convention by assuring that only he can usher his party back into the White House.(AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Republican presidential candidate, Ohio Gov. John Kasich speaks during a news conference in New York, Thursday, March 31, 2016. Kasich is convinced he can swing hundreds of delegates to swing his way at a contested summer convention by assuring that only he can usher his party back into the White House.(AP Photo/Richard Drew) Republican presidential candidate, Ohio Gov. John Kasich speaks during a news conference in New York, Thursday, March 31, 2016. Kasich is convinced he can swing hundreds of delegates to swing his way at a contested summer convention by assuring that only he can usher his party back into the White House.(AP Photo/Richard Drew)

By Associated Press 3 min read

NEW YORK (AP) – John Kasich seized an opportunity to blast rival Donald Trump Thursday as unprepared for the presidency after comments about abortion ignited a fresh round of controversy this week about the Republican front-runner.

“Donald Trump is clearly not prepared to be president,” Kasich said at a news conference in New York. He argued that Trump “becomes unmoored” when pressed about his positions and then corrects himself, as Trump’s campaign did Wednesday after he suggested punishing women for having abortions if they were to become illegal.

Presidents, Kasich added, “don’t get do-overs.”

The Ohio governor, who is far behind Trump and rival Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in the GOP contest, largely avoided sparring with Trump through much of the campaign. But he began aiming heavy criticism at the New York real estate magnate after violence outside a planned Trump rally in Chicago earlier this month.

After seeming to relish reaction to his provocative positions during much of the campaign, Trump faced condemnation from both sides of a divisive social issue after saying Wednesday that women who have abortions should receive “some form of punishment” if the procedure is ever outlawed, as Trump would like. His campaign quickly backtracked, saying only people who perform abortions would be held legally responsible.