True story: throughout the last year, whenever I tried to remember Ohio governor John Kasich’s name, I could never remember it. Like, he’s such a charisma vacuum, his name always escaped me, and I just thought of him as “WhatsHisGuts BlobStuff OhioFace.” Kasich’s unsuccessful bid for the GOP presidential nomination was seen as disappointing by many, even though he’s largely a by-the-books hardline Republican, complete with archaic ideas about women, reproductive health, unions and LGBTQ people. He’s also down with the Evangelical community, because of course. So, over the weekend, Blob OhioFace couldn’t help but randomly bash a British actor for daring to identify as an atheist. This is really one of the weirdest stories (in a year full of strange political stories).

John Kasich waded into the New Hampshire state primary last week, endorsing Republican Chris Sununu at the Legislative Office Building in Concord. The former presidential candidate then promptly stole the spotlight. Following the announcement, the Ohio governor toured downtown Exeter with Sununu and his posse in tow. Inside a bookstore he didn’t much discuss Sununu’s candidacy. Instead he looked at the latest Harry Potter book and pondered why British actor Daniel Radcliffe is an atheist. Then he wondered aloud which Olympians would find success after the recent Rio games.

“You know that Daniel Radcliff has declared himself an atheist?” Kasich said to no one in particular. “I’m serious. What a weird thing. Why would a guy who has had all that success just, I mean, what the hell is wrong with him?”

Kasich quickly changed gears. “It’s going to be interesting to see who is going to make it big from the Olympics,” he said, wondering aloud whether it would be U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps or Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt.

[From Concord Monitor]

Wow, that’s a lot of bulls—t to unpack. First of all, it’s true that Radcliffe has identified as an atheist in interviews, but he’s also talked about how he’s open to discussing spirituality, and how his mother is Jewish and more. Not that Radcliffe needed to talk about any of that – his spiritual life or atheism is his business alone. Politicians shouldn’t take pot-shots at atheists or any believer for their religion or non-religion of choice. Imagine saying, “That guy declared himself a Hindu. What the hell is wrong with him?” As for this: “Why would a guy who has had all that success just, I mean, what the hell is wrong with him?” I don’t even understand that? Like, DanRad is supposed to believe in God because he was part of a successful franchise? That makes zero sense. I suppose only unsuccessful people are allowed to be atheists in GOP Blob-World.

Photos courtesy of WENN.