Michael Hayden backs John Kasich’s White House bid
General Michael Hayden, former head of the US Central Intelligence Service (CIA) and National Security Agency (NSA), has endorsed Republican presidential candidate John Kasich, calling him the party’s most seasoned candidate.
"Governor John Kasich, who served 18 years on the House Armed Services Committee, is the one candidate in the entire field with the best experience, expertise and leadership skills required to be Commander-in-Chief," Hayden said in a statement.
Hayden, who directed the NSA from 1999 to 2005 and the CIA from 2006 to 2009, praised Kasich’s plans to bolster the US military and its fight against the Daesh Takfiri group, describing them as “proposals that rise far above bumper stickers and amateur rhetoric.”
Kasich’s campaign made the announcement on Wednesday, adding that the retired four-star general will also join the Ohio governor's group of national security advisers.
The endorsement by the former spymaster came as no surprise given his previous record of hailing Kasich’s policy and demeanor.
"He is a very serious man, and he got good marks when he was on the committees. He did his homework," Hayden said of Kasich last month.
The general, who was also an adviser to Jeb Bush before he dropped out of the race, is a known critic of GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump, slamming him over his proposals to reinstate torture, and Texas Senator Ted Cruz's call for police surveillance of Muslims.
He said in February that some of Trump’s campaign remarks are so unlawful that they cannot be followed, including his call to revive waterboarding and “take out” the families of terrorists.
Hayden has also rejected Cruz for floating the idea of carpet-bombing Daesh terrorists, saying “it would be immoral and it would be unworthy of a republic like ourselves.”
Kasich is far behind Cruz and Trump in the primary contests and has so far won 143 delegates out of the 1,237 needed for his party’s nomination, compared to Trump’s 743 and Cruz’s 517.
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