Hogan says he passed on 2024 run to avoid ‘multi-car pileup’ of GOP candidates

Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said on Sunday that he passed on a White House bid to avoid a “multi-car pileup” in the GOP primary.

The moderate Republican, who served two terms as governor of a blue state, made the comment while on a panel on ABC’s “This Week,” talking about former President Trump’s reluctance to debate other GOP challengers.

“I didn’t want to see a multi-car pileup, that we have too many candidates and do the same thing we did in 2016,” Hogan said. “But I don’t think too many people are following that advice. Looks like a lot of folks are going to be jumping in.”

Hogan announced at the beginning of March that he would not run, after his name had been mentioned as a possible Republican candidate for president. He also recently dismissed running for Senate in Maryland, after longtime Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) announced that he would retire next year.

Hogan has been a frequent critic of Trump, styling himself as the Republican alternative to the “Make America Great Again” movement. But with candidates such former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) and Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) jumping into the 2924 race, Hogan said on Sunday that he thought it was best to keep out.

Hogan also predicted that another candidate other than Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who are seen as the two frontrunners for the GOP nomination, would emerge from the pack.

“If you think back to 2016, a year before the election, all we were talking about was Scott Walker and Jeb Bush,” Hogan said. “And Donald Trump wasn’t on the horizon. So, everybody is talking now about Trump and DeSantis, but it can change. I mean somebody is going to rise up and it’s a long way from the election.”

–Updated at 12:59 p.m.