Republican Gov. Larry Hogan Says His Party Needs To ‘Move On From The Cult Of Donald Trump’
Maryland Republican Gov. Larry Hogan said Sunday that his party needs to return to its roots and reject former President Donald Trump’s vision of conservatism, Politico reported.
Speaking for NBC’s Meet the Press, Hogan argued that Republicans need to learn how to build broader coalitions if they want to win back the House and the Senate in 2022, or take the White House in 2024.
Hogan said that he has managed to do so in Maryland, which is “one of the bluest states in the country where you can have a message that appeals to more people.”
Hogan drew a parallel between Trump’s electoral defeat and Richard Nixon’s resignation, noting that the Republican Party got clobbered in the 1974 midterms because it was tainted by the Watergate scandal. However, the GOP came back six years later, with Ronald Reagan winning in a historic landslide.
The Republican Party can make a similar comeback, Hogan stressed, but only if it embraces “common sense conservatives.” Lawmakers who weren’t ardent Trump supporters, he pointed out, managed to defend their seats, and candidates who rejected the former president defeated Democratic incumbents.
“We picked up a whole lot of House seats in all the suburban districts,” Hogan continued, saying that, if Republicans want to win again, they need to reject the Trump “cult” and reconnect with their party’s traditional values.
“So, I think the party has a winning message. We just had a bad messenger, and I think we’ve got to move on from the cult of Donald Trump and return to the basic principles that the party has always stood for.”
Hogan added that he would have voted to convict Trump on inciting an insurrection against the U.S. government and commended Republican senators who did so. “I was very proud of some of the folks who stood up and did the right thing. It’s not always easy,” he said.
Some conservatives disagree with Hogan and apparently believe that the Republican Party is irredeemable. As The Inquisitr reported, a group of right-leaning activists and strategists recently held a meeting to discuss forming a third party that would be a center-right alternative to the GOP.
Those opposed to the idea argued that forming an additional party would only split the conservative vote and make it easier for Democrats to win in key areas.
In an interview on Sunday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell — a key Republican figure — indicated that he plans on wrestling back control of the GOP and said that he may not support Trump-backed candidates in the 2022 midterms.
