Hogan’s spokesman, Michael Ricci, responded to Trump’s endorsement in a statement, saying, “Governor Hogan is clear that, just as he did in 2016 and 2020, he does not support Donald Trump.”
Mr. Hogan’s opponent, Prince George’s County Mayor Angela D. Alsobrooks, and other Democrats were quick to capitalize on the former Maryland governor’s ties to Mr. Trump, who lost the state in 2020 by more than 30 percentage points.
Hogan, who leaves office in 2023 with high approval ratings and has long shied away from traditional party-building tasks since taking office, plans to skip the Republican National Convention again, and his campaign confirmed Thursday that he won’t be attending the Maryland Republican Party’s annual fundraiser, where Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, a Trump ally, will give the keynote address.
In the same interview with Fox’s Aisha Husney, when asked about Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin (R), Trump said he “might consider” making Youngkin his running mate, though it was a flippant comment that Trump contradicted with a tongue-in-cheek assertion that his choice would be one of the representatives or senators he met with in Washington that day.
Youngkin is not among the eight people Trump’s team is said to be investigating, but he did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the former president’s comments, which came the day after the two men met for the first time at Trump National Golf Club in northern Virginia.
As Maryland’s popular Republican governor, Hogan has been an antagonizer of President Trump for years, and he drew fresh ire within Trumpworld during the coronavirus pandemic when he called on Americans to “respect the ruling” in Trump’s hush-money lawsuit.
Chris LaCivita, a senior Trump strategist who declared on social media that Hogan’s comments “ended his campaign,” said Thursday that he too would like Hogan to win the Senate seat: “We would obviously rather have Larry Hogan representing Maryland as a U.S. senator than any Democrat.”
As for whether Hogan would accept Trump’s endorsement, LaCivita said, “Donald Trump was talking about Republican unity in Washington. Period.”Laura Trump, co-chair of the Republican National Committee and Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law, declared this month that Hogan “does not deserve the respect of any Republican” and suggested the RNC might not fund his Senate race.
But other key Republican leaders who had recruited Hogan for the election, including Republican Senatorial Campaign Chairman Steve Daines (R-Montana), continued to support him.
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokeswoman Amanda Sherman Beatty responded with the party’s new line of attack against Hogan: “Donald Trump wants Republican Larry Hogan to run for the Senate.”
Maryland Democrats are quickly trying to capitalize on Trump’s comments to raise funds. “Donald Trump wants Larry Hogan because he knows Hogan will be the deciding vote that will put Republicans in charge of the United States Senate. It couldn’t be clearer what’s at stake,” the fundraising call reads. “It’s clear that this endorsement will see Trump pouring money into the state to support the candidate of his choice.”
Trump’s endorsement of Hogan has prompted Democrats to step up their attacks on the two-term former governor, arguing that while Hogan may have appealed to voters in the overwhelmingly Democratic state’s House of Representatives, he will empower Republicans in the Senate to carry out Trump’s policies and block a second term for President Biden.
“The stakes in this race couldn’t be higher,” Alsobrooks said in a statement Thursday afternoon. “Last week, Republican senators rejected access to birth control. Hours ago, Republican senators voted against protecting IVF. And now Donald Trump has endorsed Larry Hogan to secure the Republican majority.”
By Thursday evening, Alsobrooks’ campaign touted Trump’s support for Hogan in a fundraising plea, writing that the former president’s “endorsement proves that Republicans are committed to winning Maryland’s open seat and flipping the Senate to the Republican Party.”
“There could be an influx of MAGA dark money in our state on a scale never seen before, and we must be prepared to respond,” the campaign wrote.
Since winning the May 14 primary, Hogan has done everything he can to distance himself from Trump and parts of the Republican establishment. He declared for the first time that he is “pro-life” and ran statewide ads arguing that Republicans cannot count on his votes in the Senate. He has poured $1 million into an ad campaign to spread those two messages.
In the neighboring purple state, Youngkin has walked a tightrope with Trump, who lost Virginia by 10 percentage points in 2020 but is tied with Biden in the Old Dominion in two recent polls. Youngkin supported Trump when he sought the Republican nomination in 2021 but stayed away when Trump was targeting moderate swing votes in the general election. Youngkin didn’t endorse Trump until March, the day after Trump handily won Virginia’s Republican presidential primary. Trump, who supported Youngkin, has occasionally complained that the governor hasn’t given him enough credit for the win.
“Do you think he’d be a good vice president?” Husney asked. Trump spoke about Youngkin on Thursday.
“He’s a great guy,” Trump responded. “I think he’d be considered. Yes. I haven’t been asked that question, but he’d be on that list. He’s a very good guy. We had a great meeting.”
But when asked in the same interview whether anyone of his choosing was present when he met with lawmakers on Thursday, Trump responded, “Probably. Yes, probably.”
Tensions were high during the first two years of his term as Governor Youngkin considered running for president, leading President Trump to mock the governor on Truth Social in November 2022. “Virginia’s Youngkin (that’s a funny way to look at it. Sounds Chinese, doesn’t it?) wouldn’t have won without me…” Trump posted.
Trump and Gov. Youngkin met for more than an hour early Wednesday evening on a high-rise floor of the golf resort with a panoramic view of the falls and the course, according to two people familiar with the meeting who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private conversation. Also attending the meeting were LaCivita, Gov. Youngkin’s political adviser, Matthew Moran, and the governor’s chief of staff, Jeff Getman.
The two discussed energy and other issues facing the nation and Virginia, and debated polls showing a close race in Virginia, including polling data Youngkin presented to Trump. Youngkin shared some strategic ideas for running the campaign in the purple state and discussed issues he thinks could give the former president an advantage in the state, such as parental rights in education.
The term-limited governor is due to step down in January 2026, but there was no discussion of a vice presidency or cabinet posts.
Vozzella reported from Richmond. Latecia Beacham contributed to this report.
