Kasich: America needs 'a sense of humor'

Ohio Gov. John Kasich, whose attempt at a joke while speaking at University of Richmond ignited a national debate, received applause at an event Tuesday when he suggested America get a sense of humor.

Kasich told sophomore Kayla Solsbak “I don't have any tickets for, you know, for Taylor Swift or anything” as she tried to get his attention to ask him a question at the event in Richmond on Monday, Oct. 5. Solsbak responded with an opinion piece titled "No, John Kasich, I don't want Taylor Swift tickets," which gained widespread attention.

“I’m so tired of all of this nonsense,” Kasich said at a town-hall meeting in Bow, N.H., according to Cincinati.com. From the article:

He had been using marriage as an example of how he’d compromise, despite closely held principles.

“When you are with your wife,” he said to a man, “do you ever have to give up anything that you really don’t want to give up? You do?”

Kasich then turned to the man’s wife.

“You probably never do, do you?” he joked. The audience howled.

Then, Kasich remembered. His recent jokes have created controversies. And he doesn’t seem to think that’s fair.

“Because I said that, someone will attack me in the press. Let’s also get a sense of humor back in America, OK?” he said, to applause.

Kasich's Taylor Swift remark and Solsbak's opinion piece drew attention from national media outlets, such as New York Magazine, Cosmopolitan and Washingtonian. Her piece also received pushback, including from a member of the Richmond's College Republicans.

“Everyone wants an authentic candidate until they have one," Kasich said later Tuesday. "And what we do is we beat them down until they lose their authenticity. And I’m not going to let that happen to me.”

Editor's note: Kayla Solsbak is a features assistant for The Collegian. 

Contact editor-in-chief Jack Nicholson at jack.nicholson@richmond.edu