CNN
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Republican National Committee Co-Chair Lara Trump said Sunday that Maryland Republican Senate candidate Larry Hogan “does not deserve the respect” of any Republican after urging Americans to respect the verdict in Donald Trump’s secret trial before it is returned.
Speaking to CNN’s Kasie Hunt on “State of the Union,” Lara Trump called Hogan’s comments “ridiculous” and said the former Maryland governor “should have thought long and hard” before to publish his statement.
“I’ll tell you one thing, I don’t support what he just said there. I think it’s ridiculous,” said Lara Trump, who is also the former president’s daughter-in-law. “He doesn’t deserve the respect of anyone in the Republican Party at this point, and frankly, of anyone in America, if that’s how you feel. It’s very upsetting to hear this.
Last week, Hogan urged Americans to “respect the verdict and the legal process” before a Manhattan jury found Donald Trump guilty of all 34 counts of falsifying business records. This historic and unprecedented verdict makes Trump the first former president in American history to be convicted of a crime.
“At this dangerously divided moment in our history, all leaders, regardless of party, must not add fuel to the fire with even more toxic partisanship. We must reaffirm what made this nation great: the rule of law,” Hogan said.
When asked Sunday whether the RNC would withhold money from Hogan’s campaign, Lara Trump declined to answer directly but again called Hogan’s statement “ridiculous.”
“I will get back to you on all the details monetarily. But what I can tell you is that as co-chair of the Republican Party, I think he should never have said something like that,” she said.
Hogan winning the Senate seat in Maryland would be a victory for Republicans in a Democratic state. He was first elected governor in 2014, was comfortably re-elected in 2018 and left office in January 2023 with high approval ratings.
In recent decades, Maryland has been dominated by the Democratic Party at the state and federal levels. George HW Bush was the last Republican presidential candidate to win the Old Line State, in 1988.
Lara Trump added on Sunday that “the American people really spoke up” after the condemnation for silence.
“The American people showed up and 48 hours after Donald Trump’s verdict was read, our campaign and the RNC raised $70 million in digital fundraising,” she said.
“I think it was a very quick, very quick, very strong response from the American people. “This has gone way too far,” added Lara Trump. “The American people are upset and they have spoken about it. »