Maryland’s Republican governor to President Trump on conceding: “The time has come”
Republican Gov. Larry Hogan said that “the time has come” for President Trump to accept that he has lost the election, telling an interviewer from The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation on Monday that Democrat Joe Biden notched a “pretty overwhelming victory” against Trump.
Hogan said that he agrees that the country needs “to make sure every vote is counted” and that a process to challenge irregularities should be followed, but that, so far, “there hasn’t been any evidence and (Republicans) haven’t won any cases.”
“It loses credibility,” Hogan said of Trump’s continued baseless claims. “More and more Republicans are coming out every day. We are in the middle of twin crises. Covid-19 is spreading all over the country… and our economy is collapsing, and the President is tweeting all day and night about beating Joe Biden instead of focused on let’s have a really successful next couple months and focusing on these problems.”
When asked directly about when Trump should concede, Hogan said: “I mean, tomorrow will be two weeks since we haven’t seen anything. The time has come. More and more people, very close supporters and friends of the president are all giving him that advice. He is just not listening.”
Hogan added that while recounts and challenges could flip upward of a few hundred votes, Trump’s claims aren’t going to come close to closing the gap.
“We are not going to make up for five million votes in all of those states,” Hogan said. “It was a pretty overwhelming victory at this point.”
This question and answer session came after a speech by the Republican governor and frequent Trump critic.
“The truth isn’t always easy to hear,” Hogan said in the speech, but “divisive rhetoric and toxic politics are alienating large parts of the country and no one will listen to our message if they don’t believe that we are listening to them.”
He added: “Are we going to be a party that can’t win national elections again or are we willing to do the hard work of building a durable coalition that can once again shape our nation’s destiny?”
