Hogan joins Jake Tapper, continues belly-aching about Cox's win

If only he could react as maturely as Carroll Senator Justin Ready

On Sunday morning, Maryland’s outgoing Governor Larry Hogan joined CNN’s State of the Union program with host Jake Tapper, to continue belly-aching about last week’s Republican primary outcome in the free state.  

Tapper opened the segment, stating that Maryland will likely be returning to Democratic control in the Fall, since Hogan’s chosen successor was defeated by Dan Cox, who Tapper introduced as an election denier that embraces Q’Anon insanity, all while clips of Kelly Schulz’s low energy press conference from late June in Annapolis’s Lawyers Mall played in the background.    

Hogan jumped in, saying Cox is not a serious candidate and has no chance of winning in the Fall, and how the real winner is the Democratic Governors Association who propped Cox up and got him elected. 

Tapper pushed back, acknowledging the DGA ads but reminding Hogan that 142K Maryland Republicans still went out and voted for Cox and that the message contained in the DGA’s ads was indeed one that appears to have resonated. 

Hogan rebutted, explaining how those 142K voters make up an extremely small percentage of the state’s population, a somewhat ironic thing to say considering Cox’s 142K vote tally far exceeds Hogan’s contested primary total from 2014 where he captured 92K votes.   

When Tapper asked if Hogan would be voting for Cox or Democrat Wes Moore come the Fall, Hogan was noncommittal, but again confirmed he would not be supporting Cox. 

Prior to Hogan’s segment, Liz Cheney was on Tapper’s program, and Tapper asked Hogan if the battle he and Cheney are fighting is a losing one. Hogan said their fight is far from over as he made the case, as he often does, that the party needs to return to the big tent conservatism of Ronald Reagan.

Hogan’s continued belly-aching on national television will do nothing to help Maryland’s Republican party. If only he could react as maturely to Schulz’s loss as Carroll County Senator Justin Ready, who had previously been more closely associated with Schulz than Cox, but who nonetheless congratulated Cox after his win and stated that the choice come November is clear, per his Facebook:

I also want to congratulate Dan Cox on his victory in the Governor’s race to become our nominee. As we move forward together into the general election campaign the choice is very clear - we cannot have a liberal Democrat super-majority in charge in Annapolis with unchecked power. They will raise taxes and double down on the failed Biden agenda.

Maryland Muckraker is a completely independent and fearlessly conservative blog covering local issues by me, Ethan Reese. After spending nearly a decade in corporate Baltimore in marketing technology, figured I’d have a go at writing. Since then I’ve contributed articles to FOX’s OutKick, PJ Media, and Rare Politics, as well as being named a Writing Fellow with the America’s Future Foundation.