Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, an establishment-backed critic of 45th President Donald Trump, has declared the presidential campaign of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis “close to being over” due to the campaign’s failure to court the former president’s voters.
Hogan, who was at one time expected to launch a moderate Republican presidential campaign against Trump, was asked by CBS News to give an evaluation of the Florida man’s campaign.
He declared “DeSantis has really under performed” despite “wall-to-wall coverage on Fox News.” Media Right News noted that DeSantis and Trump are generally the only candidates to receive major coverage.
“Then he started making all kinds of mistakes,” Hogan condemned. The former governor excoriated, “The campaign is one of the worst I’ve seen so far and he’s dropped like a rock.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has "really underperformed" in his 2024 presidential campaign, former GOP Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan says, calling it "one of the worst" campaigns he's seen so far.@MajorCBS: "Is it over for DeSantis?"
Hogan: "I think it's getting close to being over." pic.twitter.com/Krx8AX9L0x
— CBS News (@CBSNews) June 21, 2023
Offering a reason for the Florida governor’s failure to attract widespread support within the Republican Party, the former governor said DeSantis has failed to secure Trump voters.
“I think people started to say ‘Well maybe we’re willing to consider someone other than Trump,'” said Hogan. “They took a look at Ron DeSantis and then went back to Trump. I think he dropped 18-20 points in the polls, now you’re seeing other people rise up.”
Hogan remained optimistic that another Republican could ultimately unseat Trump and achieve front runner status, but suggested the Florida governor may be circling the drain when asked, “Is it over for DeSantis?”
“I think it’s getting close to being over,” Hogan acknowledged. “At this point, he’s headed in the wrong direction.”
Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump (Trump White House)
While DeSantis issued statements supporting Trump when the former president was indicted – first in New York, then by the Biden Department of Justice – the Florida governor has otherwise leaned into an ongoing feud between the candidates.
Yesterday DeSantis appeared to risk his position on the debate stage when he dodged a reporter’s question about whether he would back Trump should the former president secure the Republican Party’s nomination for president in 2024. The Republican National Committee now requires candidates to pledge their eventual support to the Republican nominee.
Instead of pledging to support the eventual nominee, DeSantis took issue with Trump’s statements about Covid-19 lockdowns and reiterated his belief that he can win.
“At the same time, you know you get into these processes, it’s like, I want to beat Biden, OK? I will do that, I will get that done,” DeSantis promised.
“It’s an important process and, you know, you respect the process and the people – the decision – how this goes,” DeSantis said of the Republican primary process, “but I’m very confident that those decisions are gonna be positive for us.”
#BREAKING: DeSantis asked if he pledges to support Trump if he's the GOP nominee
"When you are saying Cuomo did better than Florida on COVID, [you] are full of it. Nobody believes that […] He was praising Florida for being open [in 2020 and 2021]."
"Now he's trying to… pic.twitter.com/dXelUKW2Tn
— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) June 22, 2023
