- Republican Gov. Larry Hogan slammed Trump during an interview with ABC News this week.
- Hogan said Trump supports “crazy” candidates in the GOP primary.
- “The primary is critical because it will determine what the Republican Party looks like,” Hogan said.
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Maryland GOP Gov. Larry Hogan said Friday that former President Donald Trump supports “crazy” candidates in the Republican Party primary.
“Trump is trying to fit into races across the country where the people he supports are crazy,” the governor told ABC News.
He added that Trump-backed candidates – and their performance in their respective campaigns – would be crucial in defining the face of the GOP.
“The primary is critical because it will determine what the Republican Party looks like,” Hogan said.
“It will tell us how much Trump’s influence has waned or not. Has he shrunk? And what does that say about the next elections two years later?”
Hogan also expressed hope that Trump’s election ambitions would fail.
“I’d like to be able to say, you know, we won all those races — and he lost,” Hogan told ABC.
“He lost the White House and the Senate and the House and Governor races and the state legislatures. I wouldn’t call that a winner,” he added. “And now he’s going to lose in 2022 – another losing round for him. And that can help us take things in a better direction.”
Hogan has previously accused the former president of “fomenting the riot” on Jan. 6, 2021. He has also endorsed Kelly Schulz, opponent of Trump-backed Dan Cox, as his successor when his term ends in 2023.
The Maryland governor has also been outspoken about the GOP’s ongoing concerns about possible retaliation from the Trump camp.
“They worry that they will be attacked within the party. And it just bothers me that you have to swear allegiance to the ‘dear leader’ or get thrown out of the party. It just doesn’t make sense,” Hogan said in May 2021.
As of March 30, Trump has endorsed at least 130 candidates for the primary, many of whom have reportedly been vetted by a small, secret group of advisers.
Some of its nominees, such as Pennsylvania Senate nominee Sean Parnell and Missouri Senate nominee Eric Greitens, were plagued by scandal. Parnell was forced to sit out his campaign after facing allegations of domestic violence from his estranged wife, while Greitens is currently fending off allegations of physical abuse at the hands of his ex-wife.
On Sunday, Trump also announced Mehmet Oz – aka the TV personality “Dr. Oz” – his “total support” and called the latter “brilliant”. Oz is running for the US Senate seat in Pennsylvania.
The former president has also endorsed a list of far-right congressmen, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is running for re-election in Georgia.
In recent weeks, Trump has also taken the position that candidates who deny his unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud have “woken up.” He also went so far as to revoke his ally Mo Brooks’ approval, calling the congressman and current Alabama Senate nominee “disappointing.”