Hogan thinks Trump will pass on 2024

Jul. 13—MANCHESTER — Outgoing Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a potential Republican candidate for president in 2024, says he believes it's unlikely Donald Trump will run again for president in 2024.

"I think there is a chance that he could, but if I were a betting man, I would say it is like 60-40 he would not run," said Hogan, a political moderate.

Once his second and last term as governor ends in December, Hogan, 66, said he would decide whether to mount his own White House bid.

How well the GOP does in taking back Congress or handing President Biden midterm defeats will not be a factor, Hogan said during an interview at the New Hampshire Union Leader.

"I think Republicans are going to have a big year. My concern is we don't get too complacent," Hogan said. "We haven't fixed all the problems in our own party, so maybe we win because the Democrats are so bad."

Hogan has said Republicans will not win in 2024 by going with Trump or a "cheap imitation."

Calling himself a "common-sense conservative" in a Democrat-leaning state, Hogan said he has been able to achieve reforms on taxes, energy independence, regulation and budgeting — issues that he said Congress needs to move on to win back voter confidence.

"We are just so beaten down by it. There are so many people turned off to politics these days," Hogan said.

"We have become so partisan, frankly both sides. The loudest and angriest voices get the attention today as well, and most people in the middle are fed up about it."

While he got plenty of media attention supporting Trump's impeachment inquiry in 2019, Hogan insisted he has spent much of his time as governor ignoring Washington politics.

Hogan's father was the first Republican congressman to support impeachment of President Richard Nixon over Watergate.

"For me, Trump was a distraction. I thought the president sometimes was his worst enemy," Hogan said.

"He turned off voters he didn't need to. I've always thought successful politics was about addition and multiplication, not subtraction and division."

Hogan spent most of Tuesday promoting his "Inflation Relief Now" plan.

"We were trying to ease the pain on hardworking folks and small businesses," said Hogan, who cut taxes in his state eight years in a row by $4.7 billion.

"Let the people at the lowest rung on the ladder keep more of their own money."

Maryland was the first state to suspend its state gasoline tax, saving consumers $120 million.

Hogan said Biden wasted months vacillating on whether to suspend the federal tax until he recently embraced the idea. congress now seems unlikely to approve it.

Americans want solutions that bridge the divide between the ultra-left and ultra-right poles in America today, he said.

For example, on gun control, Hogan celebrated the Supreme Court decision last week that allowed him to suspend his state's policy that "virtually blocked anyone" from getting a concealed carry gun permit.

But Hogan also signed a red-flag law to permit a judge to order seizure of guns from someone considered a life-or-death threat to himself or others.

In response to a deadly school shooting in Baltimore, Maryland passed a $240 million school safety package that provided an armed school resource officer in every building.

"Finding compromise in Washington is nearly impossible, and especially with these issues that drives us apart," Hogan said.

Hogan said he is personally opposed to abortion, but but as governor hre resisted the calls of social conservatives to severely restrict the procedure.

The Supreme Court's overturning of Roe vs. Wade could result in reasoned policy for many states, he said.

"I think most people support the rights of states to make decisions for themselves," Hogan said.

"Some think there should be no restrictions on abortions, but I think most would support some reasonable provisions."

On Tuesday, Hogan spoke to Realtors in Bedford, Associated Builders and Contractors in Manchester, and the Home Builders Association in Portsmouth.

On Wednesday, Hogan speaks at Novell Iron Works in Greenland before heading off to the National Governors Association's summer meeting in Portland, Maine.

"I think I've got 15 stops if you count all the interviews we lined up. It does feel almost like a campaign day," said Hogan, making his first visit in three years to the first-in-the-nation primary state.

klandrigan@unionleader.com