CNN
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Maryland GOP Senate candidate Larry Hogan touted an endorsement from Donald Trump in a private donor call and suggested it helps him with the former president’s “hard core” supporters, after repeatedly stating that he did not want Trump’s endorsement.
On the call Wednesday, a local GOP donor asked Hogan about the public perception that Hogan and Trump “hate each other.” The former Maryland governor clarified that he did actually receive Trump’s endorsement, according to a video of the call exclusively obtained by CNN.
“Donald Trump actually endorsed me,” Hogan says, interrupting the donor and repeating: “Donald Trump actually endorsed me.”
Hogan, who was a popular GOP governor during Trump’s first term in the White House, has often clashed with the former president and once even considered a primary challenge against him. And the relationship between the two men has become a major question during this year’s Senate run.
“Governor Hogan was responding to a question about whether he and Former President Trump ‘hate’ each other. Governor Hogan rejects the notion of hatred in politics, and will attempt to work with anybody who is elected,” Blake Kernen, Hogan campaign spokesperson, said in a statement to CNN.
“As he said in the same answer, he will always be his own independent voice even if it angers some members of his party. As he reiterated yesterday on CNN, he won’t be supporting Former President Trump,” the statement said.
The Maryland Senate contest — once considered a sure bet for Democrats — became more competitive this year when Hogan jumped into the race, it still leans likely Democratic according to pre-election race ratings by Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales. Hogan was personally recruited by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell as an independent-minded centrist who could compete in a blue state like Maryland. He faces Democratic candidate Angela Alsobrooks on the ballot next week.
During the fundraiser call, Hogan said that while most Maryland Republicans are already behind him, there is a “small percent” of Trump supporters who may resent Hogan for his record of anti-Trump rhetoric. And he suggested that’s where the Trump endorsement comes into play.
“There is a small percent, it’s about 4 percent of the people, who are hard core Trump folks who may be mad at people because I didn’t support Trump,” he said, noting that their alternative in the Maryland Senate race is a “far left Democrat who’s against everything they believe in.”
And for those Trump supporters, Hogan said: “Trump did come out and endorse me, so for those hard-core folks, you just tell them that.”
Throughout his campaign, Hogan has said repeatedly that he would not seek Trump’s endorsement and wouldn’t accept it if Trump did try to support him. The former Maryland governor has also said he did not vote for Trump in 2016 or 2020 and would not vote for either Trump or Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in November.
After Trump endorsed Hogan this summer, Hogan told CNN’s Jake Tapper in early September that he “rejected” Trump’s endorsement.
“I actually rejected his endorsement when he tried to endorse me. I’m not supporting him, and no, I won’t be appearing with him,” Hogan said in the interview, when asked if he would appear with Trump at a campaign event.
Hogan told WTOP in June immediately after Trump’s endorsement that he didn’t think his campaign would “have any interest in accepting it.”
“It’s not something we’re going to be promoting, that’s for sure,” Hogan told WTOP.
