Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) blasted former President Trump and Republican leadership for the party’s failure to secure a red wave in the midterm elections on Friday.
Hogan and other GOP political leaders spoke at the annual Republican Jewish Coalition meeting, which started Friday and runs throughout the weekend, about the state of the coalition, the party and U.S.-Israel relations.
“Excuses, lies and toxic politics will not win elections or restore America,” Hogan said. “Only real leadership will do that.”
He said the GOP should have pulled off a “huge red wave” but that it was “barely a ripple.” He said voters rewarded “commonsense conservatives” who focused on issues that people care about, including the economy and crime.
“But, frankly, swing voters took a look at some of our less-than-stellar nominees and decided that it was just not what they were looking for,” he said.
Hogan said Trump had several accomplishments during his administration, including cutting taxes and implementing the “strongest” policies supporting Israel that the country has ever had but that the party has consistently lost in recent elections.
He said the 2022 midterms are the third election in a row with a less-than-stellar performance for Republicans — the 2018 midterms and 2020 presidential election were the first two.
“If you repeatedly lose to a really bad team,” Hogan said, referring to Democrats, “it’s time for new leadership. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.”
Trump has received blame from many Republicans in the aftermath of the midterms following many high-profile Trump-backed candidates’ losses.
Many of the Trump endorsees, including Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and Arizona Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters, repeated Trump’s disproven claims about the 2020 presidential election.
Hogan has previously been critical of several Republican nominees in the 2022 midterms who were viewed as weaker candidates than some of their primary opponents. He also refused to endorse the GOP nominee for the Maryland gubernatorial race, Dan Cox, whom he called a “QAnon whack job” and a “nut.”
Hogan, who has been rumored to be considering a possible 2024 presidential run, is a popular two-term GOP governor of a solidly Democratic state but was term-limited. Cox defeated Hogan’s preferred candidate, former state Commerce Secretary Kelly Schulz, in the primary.
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