Ohio Gov. John Kasich is shutting down rumors that he might run for president in 2020 as an independent on a unity ticket with Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper.
"Look, Kasich-Hickenlooper, first of all, you couldn't pronounce it and second of all, you couldn't fit it on a bumper sticker," Kasich, a Republican, told NBC's Chuck Todd on "Meet The Press" Sunday morning.
"That's not a denial," Todd retorted.
Kasich came back with a more straightforward response: "The answer is no."
Hickenlooper, a Democrat, also downplayed the rumors, tweeting out his thoughts on the concept.
"Odd & funny that people expect a political marriage when 2 people from different parties work together ... Kasich is dapper & worldly, but knows nada about brewing beer. Loving the attention on our bipartisan work ... but no ulterior motive. Not a unity ticket, just working with a new friend on hard compromises," Hickenlooper tweeted.
Kasich and Hickenlooper, who led Meidcaid expansion efforts in their states, have been working together to urge members of Congress to embrace a bipartisan approach to health care -- especially after the most recent GOP effort to repeal parts of Obamacare failed in the Senate.
Hickenlooper and Kasich, who was the last Republican to drop out out of the 2016 presidential race before Donald Trump won the nomination, have been vocal opponents of various aspects of the health care overhaul, which Trump has supported.
This is far from the first time Kasich's name has come up this year to once again challenge Trump and run for president.
In April, Kasich appeared at a CNN town hall event moderated by Anderson Cooper in which he said that while it was "very unlikely" that he would run for public office, he has not shut the door on the idea.
"How do you close the door on anything?" Kasich said. "If I see something I need to do to help my country, that I really believe that I have to do, then I would think I would probably do it."
Earlier this week, a source involved in the discussions of such a ticket told CNN that the unity ticket between the two governors was a possibility.
Under that scenario, they would run as independents with Kasich at the top of the ticket, said the source, who cautioned that the idea has only been casually talked about.
"The idea of a joint ticket has been discussed, but not at an organizational or planning level," said the source, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity. "What they are trying to show the country is that honorable people can disagree, but you can still problem solve together. It happens in businesses and it happens in families. Why can't it happen in Washington?"
