Hogan: Many 2024 GOP presidential challengers are ‘making excuses’ for Trump

Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) sharply criticized 2024 Republican presidential candidates for “making excuses” for former President Trump following his indictment and predicted the only way to beat Trump in the primary will be to take him on directly.

Hogan pointed to former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) as the only two primary candidates he sees willing to challenge Trump publicly. 

“I think it’s going to take somebody that emerges from the pack and does really go directly at him. I think Chris Christie did a good job and started out with a good launch because he’s the only one challenging him,” he said in a panel interview on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. 

“You’ve got 11, 12 challengers out there that aren’t challenging him, and they’re, sort of, enablers and just making excuses. I don’t see anyone saying why should we move on from Donald Trump, with the exception of Chris Christie and maybe Asa Hutchinson – two of my former colleagues, both of whom are both tough prosecutors and former U.S. attorneys that are taking this indictment more seriously than some of the others,” he added.

Hogan, a moderate Republican and frequent Trump critic, had once been seen as a possible contender for the GOP presidential ticket in 2024, but he never entered the race. He said he wanted to avoid oversaturating the field and creating the perfect scenario for Trump to snatch the GOP nomination, as he did in 2016.

Hogan said he was not surprised Trump’s favorability polled slightly higher following news of the indictment, but he was disappointed more Republican candidates were not willing to say that the charges Trump faces are serious and must be taken seriously.

“Trump obviously got a bounce. I think most of us expected him to get a bounce because there’s a rallying around him and defending him because they feel he’s being unfairly attacked and it’s the weaponization of the Justice Department,” Hogan said Sunday. “But it’s absurd that candidates won’t stand up and say that these are very serious charges. We need to take them seriously, and, you know, if you are not going to challenge him, why challenge him?” 

Trump was indicted on 37 criminal counts related to his handling of classified documents. He was accused of obstructing a federal investigation, willful retention of national defense information and making false statements to the FBI. Trump pleaded not guilty.

Asked about former United Nations ambassador and Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s comment that she was inclined to pardon Trump, if elected, Hogan said, “I thought it was absurd.”

He added that he thinks anyone not willing to look at the facts of the case should be disqualified from running for president. 

“I think they’re all trying to find that balance. And I get the fact that they are concerned about overzealous prosecution, but this is not the Russia probe. This is very serious potential national security implications, and to say we don’t want to look at that, anybody who doesn’t want to look at the facts, they should be disqualified from running, not just Trump,” Hogan said.