Hogan: GOP candidates not gaining traction due to focus on Trump legal troubles 

Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said Sunday that GOP presidential candidates are not gaining traction due to the intense focus on former President Trump’s legal troubles.

MSNBC host Jen Psaki asked Hogan whether a possible indictment for Trump over efforts to overturn the 2020 election would impact the 2024 GOP primary. Hogan responded that while a third possible indictment has not hurt Trump, it has hindered other candidates from garnering support.

“Well, it hasn’t hurt Trump the way that most people would imagine it should have hurt Trump. But it has impacted the dynamic of the Republican primary race,” Hogan said on “Inside with Jen Psaki.”

“Look, the fact that nobody else can get any traction or attention is because all we’re talking about is Donald Trump’s legal troubles,” he continued. “So, while people haven’t left Trump as quickly as I would have hoped, there are about half of the people in the Republican primary who do not want Donald Trump. They just can’t decide on which of the other 11 candidates they want to support because they aren’t — they aren’t getting much oxygen or airtime.”

Trump revealed last week that he was the target of the Justice Department’s investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attacks on the Capitol and efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Many Republicans jumped to his defense last week, accusing the Biden administration of “weaponizing” the Justice Department.

Hogan has criticized the former president in the past, and has recently floated the idea of backing a third-party candidate. He also briefly considered a 2024 presidential campaign as a Republican, but eventually decided not to run.

“An overwhelming majority of Americans are looking for something else,” Hogan said on “CNN This Morning” last week. “And so, when given the choice between Donald Trump, Joe Biden or neither, most Americans pick neither.”