ICYMI: Trump’s Endorsement Puts Larry Hogan in a Political Bind [The Hill]
Trump on Hogan: “I would like to see him win, and we got to take the majority”
The Hill is reporting the political bind Republican Larry Hogan, who has promised to caucus with Republicans and was recruited to run by Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, is in following Donald Trump’s endorsement and comments that he “would like to see [Hogan] win” so that Republicans “take the majority.” Trump’s endorsement echoes recent statements by Senate Republicans who see Hogan as key to regaining control of the Senate and passing an extreme agenda, including a nationwide abortion ban.
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The Hill: Trump’s Endorsement Puts Larry Hogan in a Political Bind
- Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) is having to navigate tricky political terrain after former President Trump endorsed him in the state’s Senate race — arguably a liability for a Republican in the deep-blue state.
- Trump told Fox News last week that he would like to see Hogan win.
- “It more than anything is illustrative of the problem that is going to plague Gov. Hogan throughout this campaign, which is that no matter what he does or what he says to distance himself from Donald Trump, that is always going to be the canopy over which he runs this race,” said Len Foxwell, a Democratic strategist based in Maryland.
- Democrats say Hogan will have trouble separating himself from the Republican label, and in particular Trump, now that the former president has thrown his support behind him.
- “It really does crystallize the arguments that Democrats are going to use against Hogan, which is that a vote for Hogan — whether you like him personally or not — is a vote for Republican control of the Senate and a vote for the Trump agenda,” Foxwell said.
- Democrats have also accused Hogan of flip-flopping on abortion, pointing to comments in which he avoided saying whether he’d support bills to codify Roe v. Wade and protect IVF. They also have pointed to legislation he vetoed as governor to require most insurance plans to cover abortions and lift a requirement that only physicians can perform them and his decision to withhold funding allocated to train new abortion providers.
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