Former Republican governor of Maryland Larry Hogan committed the cardinal sin in today’s GOP: He urged Americans to respect the rule of law.
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Apparently, the job description of Republican National Committee (RNC) co-chair no longer includes trying to help the GOP win the Senate… at least not if doing so might upset Donald Trump.
On Sunday, Lara Trump, the former president’s daughter-in-law, who was installed in the position this year to complete the transformation of the RNC into the MAGANC, dealt a serious blow to the chances of former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) to become his state’s next senator this fall.
And, seeing how the GOP needs to pick up a couple of seats to win back the Senate majority, she therefore also made it more difficult for Republicans to accomplish that goal.
While Maryland has been a Democratic stronghold in recent years, Hogan served two terms there as a very popular governor. He was believed to give the GOP one of its best chances to turn a blue seat red… especially because the former president endorsed some truly awful candidates in other competitive states.
So, what did Hogan do to draw the ire of his party’s national co-chair?
He had the audacity to tell Americans to respect the legal process before Donald Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
“Regardless of the result, I urge all Americans to respect the verdict and the legal process,” Hogan tweeted. “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.”
While that seems like a completely reasonable thing to say, it is a political death sentence in today’s GOP… because toxic partisanship is now its entire brand.
Lara Trump proved that impressively when she called out Hogan during an interview on CNN.
“I don’t support what he just said there,” she said. “I think it’s ridiculous.”
Let’s pause there for a second. The MAGA Republican Party is so far gone that reaffirming support for the rule of law has become an indefensible act.
“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,” added Lara Trump, who said it was “very upsetting to hear that.”
Just to reiterate, the “that” in the last sentence refers to Hogan’s plea that Americans should respect the country’s legal process (granted, it seems pretty clear that he was talking to MAGA supporters because they are the ones who seem to have a problem with this concept).
Short of saying that Donald Trump is not, in fact, 6’3” and does not weigh 215 pounds, this might be the gravest sin anyone in the GOP can commit right now.
As a result, Lara Trump also would not say whether the RNC would support Hogan monetarily.
Which is truly nuts, because withholding campaign funds from the former governor would make it much more difficult to win the seat, and therefore, the Senate majority.
But some things are clearly more important for Republicans these days… such as not hurting Old Man Trump’s feelings.
