Another Republican Backs Away From Challenging Trump in 2020

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan says he will not run for president.

Maryland Gov. Larry HoganScott Eisen/Getty

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Another high-profile Republican has said he will not challenge President Donald Trump’s reelection bid. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan posted on Twitter Saturday that he appreciated the encouragement he had received from people urging him to consider running in 2020. “However,” he tweeted, “I will not be a candidate.”

In the same thread, he mentioned America United, an organization he launched to “support bipartisan, common-sense solutions” and to “get our nation back on the right track.” In an interview with the Washington Post, Hogan dismissed the suggestion that his advocacy organization could be a precursor to an independent campaign against Trump. 

“No, no, no — it’s not,” Hogan said. “It’s not about a third-party run or anything like that. I’m not hedging my bets.”

On Friday afternoon, former Ohio Gov. John Kasich suggested he would be unlikely to challenge Trump, even though “all of my options are on the table.” 

Kasich, a Trump critic, told CNN that “90 percent of the Republican Party supports” Trump, and that he didn’t see a way he could get the nomination.

Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld, the only major Republican politician currently challenging Trump, told CSPAN last week that he’d encouraged Horgan and Kasich to run.  

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