Republican former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan says that he is “not afraid” of former President Donald Trump as he continues to distance himself from the ex-president amid his Senate campaign.
Hogan, who denounced Trump’s false 2020 election fraud claims and called on him to resign following the January 6 U.S. Capitol attack, is currently running in a tighter-than-expected Maryland U.S. Senate election, with one recent poll showing the race tied. However, Hogan will likely need strong support from moderates, including anti-Trump voters, to win in November.
During an interview with CNN‘s Jake Tapper on Monday, Hogan doubled down on his criticism of the former president. The former governor insisted that he was unconcerned after being asked by Tapper if he was was worried that Trump would “come after” him due to his “election integrity” stance if he wins back the White House.
“I’m not afraid of it, that’s for sure,” Hogan said. “I’ve always been willing to stand up. He’s lashed out at me a few times. But look, I’ve battled life-threatening cancer, a few mean tweets from Donald Trump aren’t going to bother me.”
Republican former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, a frequent critic of former President Donald Trump, is pictured during an event in Las Vegas on November 18, 2022. Hogan, currently a U.S. Senate candidate, said that he was “not afraid” of retaliation by Trump on Monday.
Scott Olson
Hogan also denounced Trump for threatening unnamed Democrats, including “donors,” in a Truth Social post over the weekend with “long term prison sentences” for participating in a nonexistent scheme of “rampant Cheating and Skullduggery” in the 2020 election.
The former governor touted his record of opposition to Trump since he announced his first presidential run in 2015, despite remaining a member of the same political party as the ex-president.
“I’ve been one of the most outspoken critics since the moment that Donald Trump came down the escalator… One of the only Republicans who never caved,” said Hogan. “I was disgusted by the talk about the stolen election and disgusted by what happened on January 6.”
Newsweek reached out for comment to the Trump campaign via email on Monday evening.
Hogan has said that he will vote for neither Trump nor Vice President Kamala Harris in November. He previously refused to back both Trump and President Joe Biden at the ballot box in 2020, instead writing in former President Ronald Reagan, who died in 2004.
Regardless of his outspoken criticism of Trump, the former president endorsed Hogan’s Senate run during a Fox News interview in June, quickly prompting the former governor to say that he “didn’t seek” the endorsement and has “no interest in it.”
While it remains to be seen whether Hogan’s apparent strategy of appealing to moderates by leaning into his Trump criticism will help him win the Senate race, a poll released by AARP last month showed the former governor tied with Democratic candidate Angela Alsobrooks.
Due to the map of Senate seats up for grabs this election cycle being particularly favorable to Republicans, the election in blue-leaning Maryland is considered by most political observers to be a must-win contest for Democrats and their hopes of maintaining tenuous control of the upper chamber.
