Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a moderate Republican who has said he is giving "serious consideration" to running for president, evaded the question when asked Thursday if he would support former President Trump if Trump wins the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.
Hogan, the two-time GOP governor of a blue state, told conservative talk radio host Hugh Hewitt that he does not think Trump will be the Republican nominee to challenge President Biden. When asked repeatedly if he would support Trump if he recaptures the GOP nomination in 2024, Hogan insisted he would support the Republican nominee, but declined to consider whether that would be Trump.
"Yeah, as I’ve said, Hugh, I don’t think it is going to be Donald Trump, but you know, we’ll cross that bridge or jump off that bridge when we come to it," Hogan said. When pressed, Hogan again insisted that Trump will not be the Republican presidential nominee.
"Yeah, I just don’t think he’s going to be the nominee, but I’ll support the nominee," the former governor said.
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Hogan, a longtime Trump critic, has never voted for the former president. He wrote-in his father, former Maryland Congressman Lawrence Hogan, in the 2016 election and former President Reagan for 2020.
Hogan's team reached out to reporters who suggested that Hogan appeared to be open to supporting Trump in 2024 and emphasized that the governor's position towards the former president has remained consistent.
"Hogan’s camp confirms his position on Trump hasn’t changed and his promise to support the nominee is premised on him believing it won’t be Trump," NBC reporter Henry Gomez tweeted.
Earlier this week, Hogan told Fox News host Neil Cavuto he was giving "very serious consideration" to running for president in 2024.
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"We've been really successful 30 miles outside of Washington, where everything appears to be broken and nothing but divisiveness and dysfunction. I'm in one of the bluest states in the country with a 70% progressive legislature, and I got them to cut taxes eight years in a row by $4.8 billion. And I had the biggest economic turnaround in America," Hogan said Tuesday.
"I just don't think he [Donald Trump] happens to be our strongest nominee to win the election in November," he added. "I mean, we've lost three elections in a row. We lost the White House. We've got to figure out a candidate that can appeal to a broader audience of people and that can win over swing voters."
Hogan would not give Hewitt a time frame for his own campaign announcement, but praised former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, who is gearing up for a "big announcement" about her own presidential campaign on Feb. 15.
"She’s a friend. She was a great governor, and you know, I’m glad to see her in the race," Hogan said. "You know, I think the more voices, the more people out there, the better, especially people that have some executive experience as governor. I think there are a number of us. But I’m seriously considering it. I don’t have a time frame, but we’re going to make a decision fairly soon."
Trump announced his third White House campaign in November and visited New Hampshire and South Carolina last weekend in his first two major in-person appearances on the campaign trail.
