Maryland governor on Trump attacks on Washington governor: ‘I think it’s not a time to play politics’

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said officials should not “play politics” amid the coronavirus outbreak after President Trump called Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) a “snake” last week.

“I think it’s critically important particularly in any kind of a crisis, I think clear, direct communication is critical and I think it’s really important that you try to take all of the politics out of it on both sides of the aisle,” Hogan said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday.

“Being transparent, being direct, keeping the public informed with the facts I think is critical, and I think it’s not a time to play politics,” he added, noting that Maryland’s majority-Democratic legislature joined with him to unanimously pass emergency legislation relating to the virus.

{mosads}“I think there’s been pretty good cooperation at the federal, state and local level but this thing is escalating so rapidly, information is changing almost on an hourly basis,” Hogan told NBC’s Chuck Todd, saying that Trump appointing Vice President Pence to run point on the White House’s coronavirus task force was “a really smart move.”

Pence is “a former governor, he knows the governors are on the front lines,” Hogan said. “Has the president been perfect in his communications? I would say he hasn’t communicated the way I would and the way I might like him to, but I think the rest of the team has been doing a pretty good job.”

Last week, discussing a meeting between Pence and Inslee regarding Washington’s coronavirus outbreak, the source of the majority of U.S. deaths from the virus, Trump told reporters “I told Mike not to be complimentary to the governor, because that governor is a snake. I said, ‘if you’re nice to him he will take advantage.'”