Kasich: Families have to be off-limits

By Kelly Cohen, Kelly Cohen

Published March 27, 2016

John Kasich called for the families of presidential candidates to be "off-limits," after Sen. Ted Cruz's wife Heidi became a target in the 2016 race.

"You cannot get these attacks on families," the Ohio governor and presidential hopeful said on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday morning. "If this becomes the order of the day, what kind of people are we going to have in the future that are going to run for public office?"

Donald Trump attacked Cruz's wife Heidi after a unaffailiated anti-Trump group circulating an ad that featured a picture of Trump's wife, Melania, posing undressed in a magazine. Cruz says he had "nothing to do" with the ad, which was developed by the anti-Trump Make America Awesome PAC. But Trump followed by tweeting an unflattered picture of Heidi Cruz contrasted with a seductive shot of Melania Trump.

On Sunday Kasich struggled when asked if he stood by his pledge to support Trump should the celebrity businessman become the GOP nominee.