Hogan releases cryptic video after saying third party ‘worth trying’

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that Gov. Larry Hogan most recently said he would not support Trump as the GOP nominee for president in 2024.

Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) released a cryptic video Tuesday that will raise questions about whether the moderate Republican might decide to run for president in 2024.

“I’ve always been an underdog, and people have always counted us out, but every single time we’ve beaten the odds. If we can accomplish all we did in Maryland, then there’s no place in America where these very same principles cannot succeed,” Hogan said in the post Tuesday.

The video, produced by the Hogan-supporting PAC An America United, celebrates the governor’s eight years in office and appears to leave the door open to future campaigns.

It shows Hogan with former Trump cabinet member Ben Carson, former California Gov. Arnold Schwartzenegger (D) and plays media clips touting Hogan as a figure popular with Republicans and Democrats.

In an ABC News interview this week, Hogan said a third party bid, for any candidate, would be difficult but “worth trying.” 

“But the goal of No Labels, they have no interest in being a spoiler. They don’t want to try to hand the White House to either Joe Biden or to Donald Trump,” Hogan said.

“But I can tell you that, you know, if we get into next spring and those are the nominees and most people in America do not want that, then there’s certainly this possibility,” he added.

Hogan briefly considered a 2024 presidential campaign as a Republican, but eventually decided not to run. He left office as governor this year after being term-limited.

He also ruled out a 2024 Senate campaign where he would have run to replace outgoing Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.).

In 2020, Hogan became a co-chair of No Labels, a third-party political organization pledging to elect a bipartisan ticket of moderates in the 2024 presidential election.

No Labels on Monday held an event in New Hampshire with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, Jr. (R), furthering speculation those two men could run as a third-party choice in the 2024 presidential election.

In February, Hogan said he would back Trump if he is nominated by Republicans, despite being a critic of the former president. Hogan later walked back that statement, and said in a CNN interview this week that he would not vote for Trump in 2024.

No Labels has been harshly criticized by Democrats who say the group would only serve to help re-elect former President Trump. The group’s founder has pledged to stop any campaign if they determined it would boost Trump.