Are there too many presidential hopefuls in the Republican primaries? Former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan thinks so, and has even urged several to drop out of the race to reach the White House in 2024.
In an interview offered to the CBS television program “Face The Nation”, reviewed by The Hill, Hogan recommended several candidates to withdraw if they were not willing to “defy” former US President Donald Trump.
“If you don’t make it to the debate stage, you should probably consider withdrawing. If you’re not willing to challenge Donald Trump, you should leave the stage,” Hogan said on “Face The Nation.”
The presidential hopefuls who were at the first Republican Debate in Milwaukee were:
1- Doug Burgum, Governor of North Dakota.
2- Chris Christie, former governor of the state of New Jersey.
3- Nikki Haley, former ambassador to the United Nations and former governor of the state of South Carolina.
4- Asa Hutchinson, former governor of the state of Arkansas.
5- Mike Pence, former Vice President of the United States.
6- Ron DeSantis, Governor of the State of Florida.
7- Vivek Ramaswamy, businessman and political “rookie”.
8- Tim Scott, South Carolina state senator.
According to information from the news portal NBC News, presidential candidates such as the mayor of Miami, Francis Suarez, the former congressman from Texas, Will Hurd, the businessman Perry Johnson or the radio presenter Larry Elder were left out of the Republican Debate by not be able to meet the requirements requested by the National Republican Committee.
In fact, Hogan recommended presidential hopeful Will Hurd to drop out of the race.
“Will is a great friend. I have tremendous admiration for him. I agree with him on many issues. But he is not going to be president. I think he contributes a lot to the discussion. He and I see many things in the same way. But right now, I don’t think he should be in the race,” Hogan said.
The former Maryland governor also singled out Vivek Ramaswamy as a “Trump cheerleader and surrogate” who he says is trying to “run for a job” with the former Republican president.
“If you are running to be vice president or you are trying to be cabinet secretary or you are trying to become famous or write a book or appear on television, you should get out of the race,” the former governor explained.
“We need to narrow the list to find a leader who can put the Republican Party back on the right track and get us back to winning elections,” Hogan continued. “And that’s not going to happen with 11 people in the race.”
Trump remains the clear favorite in the race for the Republican nomination. A new Wall Street Journal poll released Saturday showed the former president leading the pack with 59 percent support. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis came in a distant second with 13 percent support, followed by former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley with 8 percent support.
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