Today, we listen in with Karl and outgoing Gov. Larry Hogan (R-MD), who I've often referred to as my favorite Republican. Here's Karl's first question; I thought it was kind of odd.
We hear that Donald Trump is upset that he doesn't see Republicans out on television responding to the hearings, defending him. Why – why is that Republican leaders have been essentially silent as these hearings have unfolded?
Um, maybe it's because they're finally coming to realize that there is no defending him, Jon?
Hogan said it was disappointing - referring to the silence, not the lack of defending Trump - even though this is "how they really felt right after it happened." And, Hogan said, while Trump was watching TV and doing nothing, he "was actually taking action."
We had security team meetings. We called everybody together. It was, you know, mass chaos. We had the leaders of Congress begging for help. We were sending in the State Police riot team, which were one of the first to arrive after the Metropolitan Police, Maryland National Guard, the first to arrive after DC. We couldn't get approval from the secretary of defense. It was crazy.
He said the outtakes from Trump's messages were really the only thing that surprised him.
...it showed the real thinking... with those outtakes you could see the anger. You could see exactly what he was thinking. And that was the most moving part of the hearing for me.
Karl turned to the Maryland primary, in which Dan Cox, the gubernatorial candidate Hogan called a "QAnon whack job" was the winner; he asked Hogan what happened.
Well, it was, kind of, unprecedented collusion between the Democratic Governors Association and Donald Trump. And both of them were promoting a conspiracy theory believing kind of nut job. And DGA, I think, spent about $3 million. The guy only spent $100,000 on his campaign. So, it was a win for the Democrats. It's a big loss for the Republican Party. And we have no chance of saving that governor's seat. We actually had a chance if they hadn't gotten together and done that.
Karl played one of the DGA ads 'promoting' Cox, which ended saying he wasn't conservative enough for Maryland. He called it a "cynical effort, no question," and said that even so, "Republican voters...responded to it."
Hogan said that's not quite correct.
So, first of all, only 20 percent of the people in Maryland are Republican, and 20 percent of them showed up to the polls. So about 2 percent of the people in Maryland voted for this guy. It's not going to be the same in November, I can tell you that. So, it's not a big win. It's really a loss.
And, obviously, Hogan won't be supporting Cox.
I would not support the guy. I wouldn't let him in the governor's office, let alone vote for him for the governor's office.
Karl reflected on an April conversation, when Hogan said the upcoming Republican primaries "are going to determine what the Republican Party looks like." Karl pointed out that "we're through a lot of them" and hinted it wasn't looking good. Hogan's answer was straightforward.
-- in November of '20, right after the election, I spoke at the Reagan Institute here in DC, and I was the first person to say that this is going to be a fight for the heart and soul of the Republican Party and it was going to be a long, tough fight, but that it was -- "Time for Choosing" was the name of the speech that I gave. And we're not there yet. I mean, it's -- we're only a year into the battle.
We have two more -- more than, you know, two years until the next election. But it's not going to be easy. We're going to win some; we're going to lose some. But I think the final chapter, you know, on some of this, will be in November, when we lose some races. You know... Trump already cost us the White House, the Senate, the House. Now he's costing us governor seats and Senate seats.
And will Trump run in 2024, Karl asked? Hogan said he "can't really put himself into the mind of Donald Trump" but guessed it's 50/50 that Trump runs.
His -- his ego probably, you know, can't take another loss. After all, he lost to Joe Biden, which is hard to do. But he likes to be the center of attention.
Hogan said the RGA has discussed the potential of an early Trump '24 announcement.
...I think most people are very concerned about the damage it does to the party if he announces now. And, you know, it may help in very red states or very red districts, but in competitive places and purple battlefields, it's going to cost us seats if he were to do that.
And, what about Hogan and his plans for '24, and how were they effected by Cox's victory?
Well, it makes me more determined than ever to continue the battle to win the -- you know, win over the Republican Party, and take us back to a bigger tent, more Reaganesque party. Our -- we've got our work cut out for us. But I'm certainly not giving up.
In my opinion, the more intelligent people there are fighting for the soul of the Republican Party, the better.
A final note: here's what Chris Christie had to say about the 187 minutes of inaction by Trump during the panel discussion.
Look, and as I’ve been saying since January of '21, this is going to happen slowly and incrementally. And you’re not going to see it until after it’s already happened and it’s already over. And the reason for that is the same thing that happened in 2016, right? In 2016 it wasn't politically correct to say you were voting for Donald Trump. So, he performed much lower in the polls than he wound up doing.
Now, in Republican primary polling, it's not politically correct to say you’re against Donald Trump or you’re for someone else. I think his numbers are artificially high. And I think this is happening slowly but surely in the party. And, look, what happened this week and the replay of that 187 minutes of what he was doing, I think, will have long-term, not 2022 impact, but 2024 impact.
One can only hope.
See you around campus.
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