Ohio State Auditor Opposes Trump: ‘The Only Thing He Believes in Is Power’

COSTELLO: “So let’s talk about this. I’m joined now by the Ohio auditor of state, Dave Yost. Welcome, sir.”
YOST: “Good morning, Carol.” 
COSTELLO: “You’re willing to sacrifice your political career and come out against Donald Trump?”
YOST: “Well, I started my public life as a prosecuting attorney and I’m used to standing up and taking the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. I’ve been criticized before and taken risks before.”
COSTELLO: “So what specifically is it about Donald Trump that you object to?”
YOST: “It seems like the only thing he believes in is power and Donald Trump. My experience as a prosecutor and as the auditor of state working on public integrity is that somebody like that who has no core principles, that they’re unwilling to compromise, ultimately is not the kind of person that you can afford to trust public power to. And somebody who —“ 
COSTELLO: “So —“
YOST: “Go ahead, I’m sorry.” 
COSTELLO: “No, no, no, I was just — I was just going to ask you, but — but haven’t the voters spoken? Shouldn’t you support anyone that Republican voters support? Because Donald Trump has won ten states so far.”
YOST: “Well, two things. Number one is, I didn’t sign away my rights as a United States citizen to have an opinion and make my own choices just because I became a member of the Republican Party or an elected official. But more importantly, the American people haven’t spoken. Seventy percent of all the delegates still remain to be chosen. And if you look at the 30 to 40 percent of the Republican voters that Mr. Trump has amassed so far, the Republican electorate only represents about a third of Americans. So a third of a third is maybe a ninth. I think the jury is still out. People are just starting to tune in.” 
COSTELLO: “The latest Quinnipiac poll has Donald Trump leading your state, he’s five points ahead of the Ohio governor, John Kasich. Why do you think that is?” 
YOST: “You know, he’s got a lot of name recognition. He’s been sucking up all the oxygen in the room. And mostly the folks that are not named Donald Trump have been talking about each other for the last six months. That’s starting to change now and as we’ve seen, I think, that Mr. Trump, while he did well on Tuesday, did not do as well as expected. People are starting to see that Donald Trump is willing to change his positions to gain power, to try to appeal to the masses, not because of what he believes in his heart.”
COSTELLO: “And you truly believe that if Donald Trump becomes the next president of the United States, that he’ll retaliate against you because of the position you have taken against him?”
YOST: “Oh, I don’t think he has any idea who Dave Yost is. But I think his organization will take on his character. And he’s shown that he’s a very retributive kind of person. His first reaction when anybody crosses him is, I’m going to sue you. And his mantra for unfavorable press is, he wants to get in and use the executive power of the presidency to somehow trump the First Amendment. If he can close down and intimidate “The New York Times” with federal power, he could also, or somebody else could do that to Fox News or Breitbart. That’s why the Constitution is there to be a limit. But a man who believes in nothing will stop at nothing. The conservative — I want a government that stops at the limits of the Constitution.” 
COSTELLO: “So just my final question. If Donald Trump becomes president of the United States, what’s the country in for?”
YOST: “Well, I still believe that he will not be the president of the United States. We’ve got 70 percent of all the vote, delegates yet to be chosen. But we all have free choice and we will see the choices that he makes. I just have to say that based on past performance, his love for power and a large activist federal government, I’m not — I’m not sanguine about the future if Mr. Trump is president.”
COSTELLO: “All right, Dave Yost, Ohio state auditor, thank you so much for joining me this morning.”
YOST: “Thank you for having me.” 
COSTELLO: “You’re welcome.”