RNC co-chair Lara Trump slams Maryland GOP Senate candidate Larry Hogan for urging Americans to ‘respect’ hush money verdict
By Aaron Pellish, CNN
(CNN) — Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump said Sunday that Maryland Republican Senate candidate Larry Hogan “doesn’t deserve the respect” of any Republican after he urged Americans to respect the verdict in Donald Trump’s hush money trial before it was delivered.
Speaking with CNN’s Kasie Hunt on “State of the Union,” Lara Trump called Hogan’s comments “ridiculous” and said the former Maryland governor “should have thought long and hard” before releasing his statement.
“I’ll tell you one thing, I don’t support what he just said there. I think it’s ridiculous,” Lara Trump, who is also the former president’s daughter-in-law, said. “He doesn’t deserve the respect of anyone in the Republican Party at this point, and quite frankly, anybody in America, if that’s the way you feel. That’s very upsetting to hear that.”
Last week, Hogan had urged Americans to “respect the verdict and the legal process” before a Manhattan jury found Donald Trump guilty of all 34 charges of falsifying business records. The unprecedented and historic verdict makes Trump the first former president in American history to be convicted of a felony.
“At this dangerously divided moment in our history, all leaders—regardless of party—must not pour fuel on the fire with more toxic partisanship. We must reaffirm what has made this nation great: the rule of law,” Hogan had said.
Asked Sunday whether the RNC would withhold money from Hogan’s campaign, Lara Trump declined to answer directly but again called Hogan’s statement “ridiculous.”
“I’ll get back to you on all the specifics monetarily. But what I can tell you is that, as the Republican Party co-chair, I think he should never have said something like that,” she said.
Hogan winning the Senate seat in Maryland would be a pickup for Republicans in a Democratic state. He was first elected governor in 2014, comfortably won reelection in 2018 and left office in January 2023 with high approval ratings.
In recent decades, Maryland has been dominated by the Democratic Party at the state and federal levels. George H.W. Bush was the last Republican presidential nominee to win the Old Line State, in 1988.
Lara Trump added Sunday that “the American people have really spoken up” after the hush money conviction.
“The American people came out and in 48 hours after Donald Trump’s verdict was read, our campaign and the RNC raised $70 million in digital fundraising,” she said.
“I think that that was a very quick, very rapid and very strong response from the American people. It has gone way too far,” Lara Trump added. “The American people are upset and they spoke out about it.”
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