Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich joins MSNBC as analyst

Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich is coming to an MSNBC show near you.

The network announced this week that Kasich will serve as a contributor for MSNBC and NBC News. The Republican politician previously served as a commentator on CNN and hosted a podcast with Jordan Klepper, a comedian who appeared on "The Daily Show."

On a program with MSNBC anchor Ari Melber, Kasich accused his party of criticizing Democratic policies without presenting any solutions themselves. He also predicted that former President Donald Trump won't find his way back to the White House.

"There's a long way to go between now and the election," Kasich said. "Is it possible that he has a plurality of voters and will do well and win a nomination? Possibly. Is he going to be president? No way."

Kasich unsuccessfully ran against Trump during the 2016 presidential primary and only won Ohio in his bid for the GOP nomination. Since then, the former governor has been a staunch critic of Trump and spoke during the 2020 Democratic National Convention about his decision to vote for President Joe Biden.

But Kasich told Melber that it's important for elected officials to understand why Trump appeals to certain voters.

"I don't think so much they love Donald Trump," Kasich said. "They love the fact that he's shaking everything up, I think in a negative way, which is why I went to the Democratic convention. In other words, with Donald Trump, he's a negative populist who says, 'You don't have something because somebody else took it from you,' as opposed to, 'Yes, we have problems here, let's dig in and try to fix them.'"

That doesn't mean Kasich has endeared himself to Democrats, who tend to make up MSNBC's viewership.

His critics flocked to Twitter in response to the network's announcement and pointed out conservative policies he advocated as governor, including abortion restrictions. While Kasich vetoed the law banning most abortions after six weeks, he signed one to penalize doctors for performing a common second-trimester abortion procedure called dilation and evacuation.

"*sees John Kasich on MSNBC* *voms*," tweeted an Ohio political blog.

Haley BeMiller is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich joins MSNBC as political analyst