Hogan tears RNC for protecting Trump from the main challenge

Republican Governor Larry Hogan announced Thursday that he was planning on a spring trip to New Hampshire, when he suspected Donald Trump's challenge for 2020 – and accused the Republican National Committee of making every effort to protect the country. President of a potentially exhausting primary.

"Generally, they try to be fair arbitrators in a process. I have never seen anything like it and I have been involved in the Republican Party for most of my life. It's unprecedented. And in my opinion, this is not the way we should deal with our policy, "said Hogan, Maryland's two-term popular governor, in an interview with POLITICO. "It's very anti-democratic and say:" In some cases, we will not allow debate, we may not have a primary … ""

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"And the question is, what are they afraid of?", He added. "Because on one side, polls show that 70% of Republicans support the president at a primary. Why are they so concerned? Why have we inflated the chest – we have assembled the largest team ever assembled, we will raise all this money early, we will hire all these people sooner, we will take control of the RNC … & # 39; & # 39;

At its annual winter meeting at the beginning of the year, the RNC passed a resolution granting the president his "undivided support" prior to the 2020 election. Trump also rolled out a 2020 campaign organization incorporating the RNC and its campaign in one entity, the re-election campaign and the committee merging their fundraising and field programs into a common entity called Trump Victory. Traditionally, a presidential re-election committee has worked side by side with, but not over, the party's national committee.

The arrangement, Hogan suggested, stems from the concern of senior Republicans that the president might be vulnerable to a major challenge.

"I'm not an expert and I can not put myself in the heads of the people who make the decisions, but maybe the situation does not look like today, in their opinion in a few months or the next week or six months from now, "he added. "Perhaps they are afraid they will fall into the ballot box and may be threatened at some point later."

The RNC declined to comment.

Party leaders noted that it was not out of the ordinary for the CNR to support a sitting president, and said the committee had adopted a similar resolution supporting President George W. Bush in his first term .

Hogan, 62, who was re-elected in Liberal Maryland last year, has openly flirted with a major challenge in recent weeks. The governor took advantage of his inaugural speech in January to engage implicitly after the president and to evoke the specter of impeachment. He then met Trump's conservative columnist and prominent critic, Bill Kristol, who was looking for a 2020 Republican primary challenger.

Hogan's team is in talks at Politics & Eggs at St. Anselm College, New Hampshire, which has long been a magnet for presidential candidates. He said he expects to make a trip to the country's first state this spring. In addition to participating in Politics & Eggs, he also discussed the possibility of meeting the Republican governor of the state, Chris Sununu. The two men recently sat together at the Gridiron dinner.

The Maryland governor is expected to visit Iowa early next month at an event sponsored by the National Governors Association, of which he is vice president. He added that he would also reserve time to meet some people in the state before returning home.

Hogan, who in recent weeks has begun to show interest in a potential first offer, said he has heard from several Republican donors and elected officials. He told them that he had not decided yet where he was going to run.

"I would say it was kind of binge eating," Hogan said.

Hogan made the remarks in anticipation of the NGA meeting in Washington this weekend, an appearance that could put him face to face with Trump. Hogan and governors from across the country are expected to visit the White House Sunday for dinner. Governors will travel Monday for a meeting with Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and other senior officials of the administration.

The president is also expected to attend a Republican Governors Association dinner on Friday night, which Hogan is also expected to attend.

Hogan, who frequently mentions that his father is the first Republican member of Congress to call for the removal of Richard Nixon, said he was in no hurry to make a decision. A successful campaign, he argued, could begin later.

"At the moment, I do not see any way to win a Republican primary against this president or against anyone, but things have a way of changing," he said, "I do not know what it will look like. the landscape this summer or autumn. "