Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) boasted to CBS’s Robert Costa about anti-Trump Republicans’ victories on Tuesday night.
“I’ve been talking about a bigger tent,” Hogan told Costa, adding, “And we need that. I think there is a battle for which direction the Republican Party will go. My side of the party had a really good night. Trump’s side did not.”
In the race for Hogan’s successor, Democrat Wes Moore flipped the governor’s mansion by defeating Dan Cox, a Republican endorsed by Trump who endorsed unfounded claims of mass election fraud in 2020. Hogan declined to endorse Cox.
“I don’t know if it was a complete repudiation of Trump and Trump politics, but it was certainly a much better night for Republicans running as commonsense conservatives,” Hogan told CBS. “Those Republicans won almost everywhere.”
Hogan said that for years he “felt like I was on a lifeboat all by myself” within his party “with everybody on the Trump Titanic.”
But now, Hogan told Costa, “we need a bigger boat,” adding that Tuesday’s election results make him more likely to seek his party’s presidential nomination in 2024.
GOP hopes of a “red wave” have faded, with multiple battleground nominees supported by Trump, such as Pennsylvania Republican Senate nominee Mehmet Oz and New Hampshire Republican Senate nominee Don Bolduc, losing their races on Tuesday.
Dozens of other Trump-endorsed Republicans won their elections, although many ran in noncompetitive races.
The former president expressed a positive sentiment on Truth Social on Wednesday.
“While in certain ways yesterday’s election was somewhat disappointing, from my personal standpoint it was a very big victory – 219 WINS and 16 Losses in the General – Who has ever done better than that?” Trump said, referring to his endorsements.
Trump is expected to potentially begin a 2024 presidential campaign next week.
Prior to Tuesday’s elections, the former president teased a “big announcement” on Nov. 15, and in an interview with Fox News Digital on Wednesday, he indicated he isn’t backing down.
“We had tremendous success,” Trump told the outlet. “Why would anything change?”