Prominent Republican Announces He Will Not Run For President In 2024, Slams Donald Trump
Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, an outspoken critic of Donald Trump, said Sunday that he will not make a White House bid in 2024.
Hogan, 66, served as governor from January 2015 to January 2023. He had hinted in January 2019 that he was considering launching a Republican primary challenge to Trump in 2020 but decided not to run.
Trump is considered the frontrunner to win the Republican nomination. There are currently four Republicans who have announced they are running for president. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has not announced his plans for 2024, could be Trump's toughest challenger.
There had been rumblings that Hogan was mulling a bid. In 2022, Hogan made visits to early primary states New Hampshire and Iowa. He said it was a "tough decision" to not run for president.
"I care very deeply about the country and my party," Hogan said in an interview with CBS News' "Face the Nation."
"I think I've been a voice of reason to try to get us back to a place where we have a more hopeful, positive vision for America.
"I think we've made a difference and I don't plan on walking away. I'm going to continue to stay involved in that fight for the soul of the Republican Party. But I'm just not going to do it as a candidate for president."
Hogan provided more details about his decision in an op-ed Sunday in the New York Times. He noted "a cult of personality" involving Trump.
"Since Donald Trump won the nomination in 2016, I have fought to make clear that our party cannot be successful if we put personality before principle, if our elected officials are afraid to say publicly what they freely admit behind closed doors, and if we can't learn from our mistakes because of the political cost of admitting facts to be true," Hogan's column reads. "In 2020, the party didn't even bother passing a campaign platform. For too long, Republican voters have been denied a real debate about what our party stands for beyond loyalty to Mr. Trump. A cult of personality is no substitute for a party of principle."
Hogan added that "there are several competent Republican leaders who have the potential to step up and lead."
The current field of Republican candidates includes Trump and Nikki Haley, as well as longshot candidates Montana Secretary of State Corey Stapleton, and entrepreneur and political commentator Vivek Ramaswamy.
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