Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has long been a vocal critic of Donald Trump, blaming the disgraced ex-president for costing the Republican Party the last three national elections while criticizing the GOP for swearing “fealty to Dear Leader” and peddling election denialism.
However, that isn’t to say that the longtime Republican still won’t check the box next to Trump’s name if he happens to be the GOP nominee for president in 2024.
Hogan, who is considering his own White House run, appeared on conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt’s show on Thursday and was immediately grilled on whether he’d support whomever the Republican Party nominates.
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“Now, governor, you’re a Ravens fan, so I expect you to answer this question the way Lamar Jackson answers a Miles Garrett rush, which is to get out of the pocket and do everything you can to not answer this,” Hewitt said, using a strained football analogy. “But I saw you do this yesterday, and I’m just going to ask it ten times. Will you support whoever the nominee of the Republican Party is in 2024?”
Asserting that he’d “imagine that will be the case,” Hogan—who refused to vote for Trump in 2020—added that he was “anxious to find out who the nominee’s going to be.” Hewitt, though, continued to press forward.
“Well, that, I’m assuming that no one knows, but it might be Donald Trump,” the Trump ally noted. “So you’re saying if it’s Donald Trump, you’ll be willing to support him?”
Once again attempting to dodge, the ex-governor insisted that he doesn’t think the twice-impeached former president will get the nomination but that he’d “cross that bridge or jump off that bridge when we come to it.”
Turning back to his original football metaphor, Hewitt said he was “not letting go of the leg” before directly asking Hogan whether he’d back Trump in 2024 if the ex-president were the nominee.
“Yeah, I just don’t think he’s going to be the nominee, but I’ll support the nominee,” Hogan conceded.
“There you go. That’s what I wanted,” a satisfied Hewitt responded before asking the former governor about his own presidential aspirations.
Hours after his appearance on Hewitt’s program, Hogan attempted to walk back his comments on Twitter—though his clarification still seemingly provided wiggle room for him to support the former president in 2024.
“To be clear, my position on Trump hasn't changed. Trump won't commit to supporting the Republican nominee, and I won't commit to supporting him,” he tweeted. “As I have repeatedly said, I fully expect to support the Republican nominee —who I don't believe will be Trump.”
Even though Hogan was willing to grudgingly offer his support for Trump under the guise of party unity, the ex-president was not willing to offer up that same concession just a short time later.
“It would have to depend on who the nominee was,” Trump told Hewitt on Thursday morning.
The ex-president has already gone on the attack against his prospective GOP primary opponents, especially Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Calling his former acolyte a “RINO GLOBALIST,” Trump is reportedly compiling an opposition file against DeSantis that largely consists of the governor’s previous pro-vaccine stance—even though Trump has long boasted about developing the COVID-19 shots.
