The chair of the Ohio Republican Party says Donald Trump's recent comments about Muslims – including a proposal for a total travel ban – are "inappropriate and irresponsible".
Matt Borges says those remarks aren't embraced by the party, and he says they're keeping the discussion off the issues and ideas party leaders like him want to talk about.
"I'm answering questions about Donald Trump all day long every day. And that's not the press's fault. It's his fault for continuing to inject this kind of inappropriate invective into the discussion because he knows he'll get attention from it," Borges said.
Gov. John Kasich has been trailing Trump by a wide margin in Republican presidential candidate polls.
Wednesday at the Council on Foreign Relations, Kasich addressed Trump's call to ban Muslims from entering the U.S.
"People don't buy this. Oh, there may be a few, but this doesn't represent what we are. But you know, when you are in an American Idol primary, all kinds of crazy things happen," Kasich said.
Kasich said Trump would not win the nomination, and Kasich also said he wouldn't seek to be vice president.
The Real Clear Politics poll average has Trump ahead of other candidates by an average 16 points in New Hampshire, where Kasich has been focusing.