Donald Trump's campaign manager Paul Manafort said Gov. John Kasich (R.) is "embarrassing" his home state of Ohio by not attending the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
MSNBC's Morning Joe panel, broadcasting live from Cleveland, discussed the lack of star-power in the Republican National Convention lineup wth Manafort on Monday
"My very critical kind of takeaway this morning is that they couldn't get anybody to speak," Mika Brzezinski said.
The RNC speaker line-up consists of Republican leaders such as Paul Ryan, Newt Gingrich, and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.), but numerous other party higher-ups are staying away.
Manafort disagreed with Brzezinski commentary. He said there are only a few Republican celebrities who will not be in attendance this week, Kasich being one of them. Kasich was one of the last men standing in the GOP primary race with Trump before bowing out in May, although the only state he won in the entire process was his own.
"Where is John Kasich?" Brzezinski asked. "He is the governor of the state."
"Kasich is the—you know what, he's making a big mistake. He's looking at something that is not going to happen. He's hurting his state. He's embarrassing his state, frankly," Manafort said.
An unhappy live audience could be heard in the background groaning at his comment.