Gov. Jindal: Not excited to support Donald Trump, but I will

On 'Your World,' former Louisiana governor and former GOP presidential candidate discusses the 2016 race and the GOP's long-term goals

This is a rush transcript from "Your World," April 26, 2016. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

NEIL CAVUTO, HOST: All right, John Kasich on the phone with us right now.

Governor -- I apologize. I apologize. Bobby Jindal, all right.

John Kasich is the candidate who went, Governor, to talk to Mike Pence today, the governor of Indiana. And I'm wondering if he's honoring this -- his understanding or this deal that he had with Ted Cruz to kind of cede Indiana and focus on states he's stronger.

But here he is in Indiana, meeting with that -- maybe this was all part of the original deal. But it`s confusing to me. What do you think, Governor?

BOBBY JINDAL, R-FORMER LOUISIANA GOVERNOR: I think that's right, Neil.

Look, Ted Cruz and John Kasich have the absolute right to get together, do whatever they want to try to work together to stop Donald Trump. I simply don`t think it`s going to work.

Two things. One, you have already seen Kasich tell people, hey, look, I want voters vote for me. I'm not telling them to vote for Ted Cruz. And then, secondly -- so already the deal is beginning to fall apart.

But then, secondly, I also just think that voters should vote for who they want to be president. I think it gets too complicated. It works great on paper. It doesn't work in practice to try to convince voters to be political strategists. They should vote for who they want.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Who are you backing, Governor? I'm sorry. Who are you backing?

JINDAL: Well, look, I have not made an endorsement at this point.

I have said that I'm going to support our nominee. I think that the second worst outcome for the Republican Party is for Donald Trump to be our nominee, but I think an even worse outcome is if the Republican Party ignores the voice of the people.

I`m not backing Donald Trump, but, Neil, if he gets the votes, if he continues to get the votes and the delegates, at some point, the Republican Party has to get serious about stopping Hillary Clinton and saying, we can't afford four more years of the Obama administration's disastrous policies.

So I think, at some point -- I wish these folks had engaged earlier. You remember I went after Donald Trump last September, last fall, when many people were not doing that.

CAVUTO: That's right.

JINDAL: A lot of folks have come on a little too late, I think. They have waited and allowed Donald Trump to grow in popularity and momentum.

And so I wish these people had been engaged earlier. But at this point, at some point, folks have to turn their attention to Hillary Clinton. Now, look, John Kasich and Ted Cruz has every right to go out there and -- look, they have every motivation and right to go out there and use every rule and tactic to try to stop Donald Trump.

CAVUTO: Yes, but they -- if they were going to do that, I think they should have done it earlier. It's too little, too late.

And to your point, they`re not even sticking to that. But, saying that, you know, you mentioned your sort of halfhearted support for Donald Trump if he gets to be the nominee. So many others with whom I have been chatting, Governor, share that view. If he's the nominee, we will support him.

But it's sort of like my kids with lima beans. I mean, all right, at gunpoint, I guess we will have them, but we will never talk to you for the rest of your life, dad.

But I guess what I'm saying here is if that's the message that's coming from so many in the party, and so many others are skipping the convention altogether, Jeb Bush and John McCain -- I know he's in the fight of his life -- and Kelly Ayotte and these others also in the big fight of their lives.

What kind of message is that sending, I mean, that the establishment is a bunch of babies or what?

JINDAL: Well, look, I will be the first to admit I'm not going to be excited about the prospect of supporting Donald Trump if he`s the nominee, but one of the things that will energize me is I don`t want Hillary Clinton appointing the next Supreme Court justice.

I don't want Hillary Clinton continuing Obamacare. I don't want Hillary Clinton's EPA coming after jobs in Louisiana and the rest of the country. I don't want more growing welfare class and more and more people dependent on the government. I don`t want Hillary Clinton running our foreign policy.

So, I think you will -- I think there will be time, if he's the nominee, for conservatives and Republicans to say, OK, enough's enough. We have got to get serious.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: What do you make of Charles Koch and some of these others, big conservative backers of big causes and big money who are saying, you know, at least in Charles Koch`s case, I don`t like the choices that are left here? And he even threw out of the possibility of voting for Hillary Clinton. What do you make of that?

JINDAL: Well, a couple -- I think a lot of us are -- if the choices are Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump this fall, I think a lot of us are going to say, how are these our only two choices?

A lot of us are going to say, I wish we had better choices, especially given all the people that were at one point running. But, at the end of the day, look, everything has got the right to support whoever they want. At the end of the day, it`s not even a close call for me. There`s no way I will be voting for Hillary Clinton.

And, again, I think the Republican Party makes a huge mistake. I`m not a fan of Donald Trump, but we have also got to look towards the longer term. The Republican Party cannot and should not ignore the angst that angry voters out there are saying that the establishment has ignored us for too long.

I think a lot of them are angry because they feel like they send Republicans to D.C., nothing changes. You know, taxes are still too high. Government spending is too high. We have a party leadership that rolls over. They want Donald Trump, they want somebody like them to fight for them.

I think he's a flawed messenger. I don`t think he`s the right person, but I do think it's unmistakable voters are angry. And they want somebody to fight for them. One of the reasons I think he's doing so well is that they`re convinced he won`t give into the establishment, whatever his flaws are, and there are many.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: And, by the way, he`s narrowed that gap with Hillary Clinton, so maybe he could close the deal.

But, Governor, we don`t know. But thank you very much. It`s good chatting with you.

JINDAL: Neil, always good to talk to you. Thanks for having me.

CAVUTO: Bobby Jindal, all right.

END

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