Hogan withholds support from Trump after endorsement in Senate race – Washington Examiner

An endorsement from former President Donald Trump of Larry Hogan on Thursday was met with anything but open arms from the Maryland Republican Senate candidate.

Trump threw his support behind the former two-term governor, despite years of vehement opposition toward him from Hogan.

“I’d like to see him win,” Trump told Fox News’s Aishah Hasnie when asked if he’d support Hogan. “I think he has a good chance. I would like to see him win. We got to take the majority. We have to straighten out our country, so I’d like to see him win. He’s somebody that can win.”

A Hogan campaign spokesperson rejected the endorsement, making clear the Senate candidate would not be reciprocating.

“Gov. Hogan has been clear he is not supporting President Trump, just as he didn’t in 2016 and 2020,” the spokesperson said in a statement to the Washington Examiner.

The Hogan campaign was not provided advanced notice of the endorsement, according to a separate person familiar with the matter.

The open seat is to replace retiring Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) and is one of more than a half-dozen that Democrats must defend to have a shot at maintaining their Senate majority. Hogan, a centrist Republican notorious for his years of fierce Trump criticism, has given the GOP the first opportunity in decades to flip the deep blue seat.

But Trump’s backing could prove to be a kiss of death in the Old Line State, where Hogan needs to win over centrist Democrats and independents, as well as Republicans. The Trump campaign just two weeks ago declared Hogan politically dead for saying people should “respect the verdict” shortly before the former president was convicted on 34 criminal counts in his New York hush-money trial.

Democrats quickly put Hogan on blast for the endorsement, arguing it was evidence that his victory would put the Senate squarely in the arms of Trump and his allies.

“The stakes of this race could not get any higher,” said Angela Alsobrooks, Prince George’s County executive and Hogan’s Democratic opponent. “Just last week, Senate Republicans shot down access to contraception. Hours ago, Senate Republicans voted against protecting IVF. And just now, Donald Trump endorsed Larry Hogan so he can have a Republican majority.”

Senate Democrats’ campaign arm was curter.

“Donald Trump wants Republican Larry Hogan in the Senate,” Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokeswoman Amanda Sherman Baity said.

The Maryland Democratic Party also piled on, saying Trump offered his seal of approval “because he wants a Senate majority that’s beholden to Trump.”

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Trump’s endorsement came just hours after a closed-door meeting with Senate Republicans at their campaign headquarters on Capitol Hill, where attendees said the presumptive GOP presidential nominee pledged party unity and to help Senate candidates in their quest to retake the chamber.

Trump even made amends with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), marking their first public encounter since before the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.