Republican Senate candidate Larry Hogan, the former governor of Maryland, humiliated Donald Trump by rebuffing the former president’s endorsement on Thursday.
“Gov. Hogan has been clear he is not supporting Donald Trump just as he didn’t in 2016 and 2020,” Hogan spokesperson Michael Ricci told Fox News when asked about Trump’s declaration of support.
Hogan wrote in March the GOP couldn’t afford to have Trump as the nominee. But the criminally convicted candidate still put himself out there in backing Hogan.
“I’d like to see him win,” Trump told Fox News. “I think he has a good chance to win. I would like to see him win. And we’ve got to take the majority.”
Asked by the conservative news channel if he was endorsing Hogan, Trump said, “Essentially, I would be endorsing, yeah.”
Hogan rattled Trump’s team and allies by urging Americans to “respect the verdict and the legal process” before Trump was convicted in his hush-money trial last month.
Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump, the former president’s daughter-in-law, said afterward that Hogan “doesn’t deserve the respect of anyone in the Republican Party at this point, and quite frankly anybody in America.”
Chris LaCivita, the co-manager of Trump’s 2024 campaign, menacingly wrote to Hogan on X (formerly Twitter): “You just ended your campaign.”
Hogan, who served two terms as governor in the blue state and has said previously he wouldn’t vote for Trump, is running against Democrat Angela D. Alsobrooks for the seat of retiring Sen. Ben Cardin (D).
Trump lost Maryland by more than 30 points in the 2020 election, perhaps making him an albatross for Republican candidates in the state. But it appears the possibility of flipping a Senate seat under his potential presidency had him swallowing his pride to endorse Hogan.