Former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan (R) said Thursday that he will not vote for former President Donald Trump in this November’s presidential election.
in axios eventHogan said he would not vote for President Trump or President Biden and would instead seek a third-party candidate.
“Look, I, like 70 percent of the rest of the American people, don’t want Joe Biden or Donald Trump to be president. I’m hopeful that there are potentially other options,” Hogan said. he said. his own candidacy for the Maryland Senate;
He added that “we don’t yet know” who that candidate will be.
Hogan, a frequent critic of President Trump, supported former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s candidacy for president, but announced Wednesday that she was ending her campaign.
Hogan, the former chairman of the centrist political group No Labels, was focused on third-party candidacy and was seen as a potential candidate to lead the group. No Labels is working to secure voting access in states for the 2024 election, but has not said which candidate will lead the splinter party’s race.
Hogan said Thursday that No Labels encouraged him to participate in the presidential campaign, but he “made the decision not to participate.”
“I didn’t want to be a spoiler, and I didn’t know if we could really get to 270,” he said, referring to the number of delegates needed to ensure a president’s victory in the Electoral College. said. “We believe there is more demand for this than ever before, but we don’t know if it will be enough to win an election.”
Hogan hopes third-party options will emerge to allow people to have “the ability to actually vote for who they want to vote for, rather than just vote against them.” said.
“I’ve said I won’t vote for Trump or Biden. I hope there’s another alternative, but I don’t know who that will be at this point,” he reiterated.
Mr. Hogan said last year that he would support the Republican presidential nominee, but said at the time he did not think Mr. Trump would be the nominee.
“Yeah, I don’t think so.” [Trump will] It could be a candidate, but I support the candidate,” Hogan said at the time.
Shortly afterward, Hogan retracted his comments in a social media post, writing, “To be clear, my position on Mr. Trump has not changed. Mr. Trump will not support any Republican candidate and I will not. I’m not going to support him either.”
At Thursday’s event, Hogan also touted his state’s diversity, harshly criticizing President Trump and saying that immigrants are “tainting the blood of our country.”
When asked about the comment, Hogan said: “It’s a terrible, outrageous statement.”
“Maryland is the most diverse state in America,” he said. “I was proud that I spent a lot of time in all the communities, listening to everyone and trying to be a governor who represented everyone. That’s why I was admired by voters. , I think that’s why they wanted to keep me there.”
“Trump’s rhetoric is terrible for the people of this state. That’s why he lost by more than 30 points twice and I won by more than that,” he added.
Updated at 11:22 a.m. ET
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
