Potential GOP primary challenger Gov. Hogan takes aim at Trump, Republicans after Mueller report
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has harsh words for President Trump and Republicans after the Mueller report; Kristin Fisher reports from Manchester, New Hampshire.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said in an interview published Saturday that he will not run against President Trump in a longshot big for the GOP’s 2020 nomination -- dealing a significant blow to the efforts by Trump’s Republican critics
“I’m not going to be a candidate for president in 2020,” Hogan told The Washington Post.
LARRY HOGAN, POTENTIAL TRUMP PRIMARY CHALLENGER, HEADED TO NEW HAMPSHIRE IN APRIL
Hogan won re-election last November to a second four-year term in a reliably blue state, and said in February that he had been “approached from a lot of different people.”
“And I guess the best way to put it is I haven’t thrown them out of my office,” he said in an interview with CBS News.
Even then, he acknowledged that the odds against such a challenger were long, noting that “nobody has successfully challenged a sitting president in the same party in the primary since 1884.”
But in the interview with The Post, he insisted his decision was based on wanting to keep his promises to constituents: “I have a commitment to the six million people of Maryland and a lot of work to do, things we haven’t completed."
He said his wife also thought it was the right decision not to run.
“Her big push was: ‘You just got re-elected to a second term as governor. You made a commitment to the people of Maryland and that’s where your focus should be.’ She said there is plenty of time to think about the future but right now my attention should be on my day job,” he said.
Hogan also cited his role at the National Governors Association as a factor in his decision, but said that he intends to stay active in national politics. He told The Post he is launching An America United -- a bipartisan advocacy group to rally both parties around issues such as infrastructure.
Hogan’s decision to bow out comes after former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who has mulled a primary challenge, on Friday said “there’s no path” considering Trump’s popularity among Republican voters.
JOHN KASICH SAYS HE SEES 'NO PATH' TO CHALLENGING TRUMP IN GOP PRIMARY
“I don't see a way to get there,” the former two-term governor turned senior CNN political commentator said Friday in an appearance on the cable news network.
But a top Kasich political adviser told Fox News “nothing has changed” and the former governor himself took to Twitter later on Friday to temper his original comments.
When it comes to potentially primary challenging Trump, Kasich said that “all of my options are still on the table.”
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Another vocal Trump critic, former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, is the only Republican currently challenging the president. Hogan told The Post he would “take a look” at backing Weld.
“Governor Weld did call me before he announced and we had a nice conversation. I have a lot of respect for him and John Kasich and a lot of these other folks,” he said.
Fox News' Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
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