Hogan: Maryland GOP governor candidate not ‘mentally stable’

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said this week that the GOP nominee running to replace him is not “mentally stable.”

“He’s not, in my opinion, mentally stable,” Hogan said of candidate Dan Cox while doing an interview on WGMD radio, according to The Washington Post.

Hogan added: “He wanted to hang my friend, Mike Pence, and took three busloads of people to the Capitol.”

Cox, a state delegate who has the endorsement of former President Trump, last year called former Vice President Mike Pence a “traitor” amid the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, where the gubernatorial candidate was present.

Cox apologized for that language during a legislative ethics inquiry, according to the Post.

Hogan, who called Cox a “nut” with “no chance whatsoever” of winning Maryland’s gubernatorial election in November, has previously referred to the candidate as a “QAnon whackjob.”

“​​Hogan has a problem with telling the truth and mounting smear antics,” Cox said in response to Hogan, whom he has previously sued for placing COVID-19 restrictions on Maryland, according to the Post.

Cox also attempted to impeach Hogan this year over those restrictions, among other actions.

He defeated Kelly Schulz, endorsed by Hogan, in the Republican primary for governor last month.

Hogan blamed Cox’s victory over Schulz on “collusion between Trump and the Democrats” in July, claiming that the candidate’s win was influenced by ads organized by the Democratic Governors Association.

Democrats have come under fire during the primary election cycle for aiding far-right candidates endorsed by Trump in their wins over more moderate Republicans, presumably so that Democrats will have a better chance at beating those candidates in November.