Maryland's Republican Governor Larry Hogan revealed in an interview with "CBS This Morning" that he is mulling the option of running against President Donald Trump in 2020 – a move that would mount a rare challenge to a sitting incumbent officeholder in the White House.
Although Hogan acknowledged that he was only recently sworn in for his second term in office, he did not outright reject the notion of mounting a primary challenge to Trump in the 2020.
"I was just sworn in a month ago for my second term, and I've got a lot of work to do here in Maryland," Hogan said.
"I would say I'm being approached from a lot of different people," he continued. "And I guess the best way to put it is I haven't thrown them out of my office."
Hogan was one of the most high-profile elected Republicans to withhold the support of his office when Trump first ran for the White House in 2016, and the governor said his position regarding the president has not changed.
"I've been pretty clear: I don't like the tone that the president uses. I think there are times where he acts irrationally and makes decisions that are not only not – and does things in a way that aren't great for the Republican Party or for the country or for him and his agenda for that matter," Hogan said. "I mean, I think sometimes he can be his own worst enemy."
When asked by CBS News political correspondent Ed O'Keefe if he would support Trump for re-election, Hogan did not answer in the affirmative.
"I don't see how my position would change much from before," he responded. "I haven't become more supportive than I was four years ago."
Should Hogan decide to enter the 2020 Republican nominating contest, he would possibly not be the first to stand up to challenge Trump. Former Governor of Massachusetts Bill Weld, who served as Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson's running mate during the 2016 election, announced a presidential exploratory committee last Friday.
“I hope to see the Republican Party assume once again the mantle of being the party of Lincoln,” Weld said at an event in New Hampshire, according to the New York Times. “I encourage those of you who are watching the current administration nervously but saying nothing to stand up and speak out when lines are crossed in dangerous ways. We cannot sit passively as our precious democracy slips into darkness.”
As Alternet notes, Weld "peeled off a significant fraction of voters, taking nearly 3.3 percent of the popular vote, and some argue he helped spoil the race for Trump in closely-contested states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin." Could he be a spoiler for Trump in 2020? The answer remains to be seen.
One other boldface name who analysts and pundits view as a third potential Republican candidate is former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who already has the experience of running against Trump from the 2016 primary. As the Daily Beast's Maxwell Tani noted in a recent article, CNN's recent decision to hire Kasich as a broadcast contributor has been criticized for effectively handing a possible presidential candidate a megaphone – and a paid one at that – to lay the groundwork for a potential campaign.
"Before and since joining CNN a month ago as a paid on-air contributor, John Kasich has made no secret that he could run for president again," the media reporter wrote. "In fact, ever since the 2016 election, a consistent feature of political coverage has been headlines about the Republican ex-governor of Ohio “mulling” or “considering” a primary or third-party challenge against President Trump."
You can watch Hogan's CBS interview here:
Shares