Maryland GOP governor applauds Biden after prime-time COVID-19 address

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) applauded President Biden on Thursday after his prime-time televised address regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and his administration’s continuing vaccine effort.

In a tweet following the president’s speech, Hogan thanked Biden for adopting recommendations that answered his calls to increase manufacturing and supply of the COVID-19 vaccine around the country.

“I applaud President Biden for adopting several of our recommendations to increase the production of vaccines. We are prepared to administer every vaccine that the federal government can deliver. We are all in this together, and we will end this pandemic together,” Hogan said.

I applaud President Biden for adopting several of our recommendations to increase the production of vaccines.

We are prepared to administer every vaccine that the federal government can deliver.

We are all in this together, and we will end this pandemic together.

— Governor Larry Hogan (@GovLarryHogan) March 12, 2021

During his speech Thursday night, Biden touted the administration’s efforts to ramp up production and distribution of the coronavirus vaccines. The president also announced that he is calling for states to make all adults eligible for the coronavirus vaccine by May 1. 

In a second tweet Hogan, whose wife Yumi Hogan is Korean American, thanked the president for speaking out against a rising tide of hate crimes and violence experienced by Asian Americans across the U.S.

“Our family greatly appreciates the president’s comments condemning the awful rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans. It truly is ‘un-American and it must stop,'” he tweeted, referencing a quote from Biden’s address.

Our family greatly appreciates the president’s comments condemning the awful rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans. It truly is “un-American and it must stop.” pic.twitter.com/eyhoq6KrxT

— Governor Larry Hogan (@GovLarryHogan) March 12, 2021

His comments come just days after a recent spate of attacks targeting Asian Americans in California; police arrested a suspect on Tuesday after an elderly Asian American man was shoved to the ground and robbed. A Buddhist temple in the state was also struck by vandalism this month.

On Thursday night, Biden condemned the “vicious hate crimes” against the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, stating, “It’s wrong. It’s un-American. And it must stop.”

Hogan, centrist Republican, was one of just a few GOP elected officials to come out in support of former President Trump’s impeachment following the Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol.

“I think there’s no question that America would be better off if the president would resign or be removed from office and if Mike Pence, the vice president of the United States, would conduct a peaceful transition of power over the next 13 days until President [Joe] Biden is sworn in,” Hogan said in January, a day after the riot.