- RAWSTORY.COM - Raw Story - 13/06/2024 22:19

Larry Hogan earns surprising Trump endorsement despite past GOP row​

Donald Trump isn't holding a grudge against former Gov. Larry Hogan despite needling MAGA when he notably broke from GOP orthodoxy that castigated Trump's rigged trial to plea for "all Americans to respect the verdict." "Former President Trump tells me he’s ENDORSING @GovLarryHogan for Senate, despite Hogan’s comments that people should 'respect the verdict' in the NY hush money trial," Fox News Congressional correspondent Aisha Hasnie wrote on X. That prompted a Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee statement that read: "Donald Trump wants Republican Larry Hogan in the Senate." But Hogan doesn't appear ready to sing "Kumbaya" with Trump just yet. ALSO READ: Attention Lincoln and Reagan: GOP senators scramble history with Trump greatness claim“Governor Hogan has been clear he is not supporting Donald Trump just as he didn’t in 2016 and 2020,” according to a campaign response. Hogan drew scorn from the GOP after applauding a New York City jury finding former President Donald Trump guilty, making him a convicted felon while also being the presumptive Republican nominee. "You just ended your campaign,” announced Chis LaCivita, a veteran Republican operative who serves as a senior campaign adviser to Trump and a Republican National Committee official slamming Hogan's run for the Senate. And the 45th president's daughter-in-law and co-chair of the RNC Lara Trump was also displeased when she appeared on CNN. "He doesn’t deserve the respect of anyone in the Republican Party at this point and, quite frankly, anybody in America. “I think it’s ridiculous and I think anybody who’s not speaking up in the face of really something that should never again have seen the light of day at trial, that would never have been brought against any other person aside from Donald Trump, doesn’t deserve the respect of anyone,” she said.Trump was found guilty on all 34 counts of fudging business records in order to corrupt the outcome of the 2016 election when he paid six-figure hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels, who alleged they had a sexual affair. The 45th president has repeatedly denied the accusations and has vowed to appeal after he's sentenced July 11. In the fallout of the historic trial's end, Raw Story pressed the only Republican in the Maryland delegation about the intra-party feud. Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) yelled when Raw Story mentioned the Trump team going after Hogan: "Trump did not go after Hogan!" Raw Story explained again, "It was Lara Trump!" "That's bulls---!" Harris told Raw Story. Harris alleged the story was "fake news." Ultimately, he proclaimed, the Republican Party and Lara Trump don't speak for Donald Trump.