Larry Hogan won’t rule out a third party running for president in 2024 — and urges Republicans who didn’t make it through the first stage of the debate to pull out of crowded primaries
- Hogan is considering a third-party presidential run under the No Labels movement
- Also claims the Republican primaries are too busy
- Comes as a growing number of politicians believe neither party will put forward ‘strong’ candidates in 2024
Larry Hogan is still not saying whether he will launch a third-party presidential bid in 2024 — but he does know that the Republican field needs to thin out.
The former Maryland governor is among those No Labels, a third-party movement, is considering running for office in 2024. Senator Joe Manchin (DW.V.) also appears to be on that shortlist.
Hogan, a Republican who served two terms as governor of a blue state, said too many people are running in the Republican Party’s presidential primaries, and urged those who failed the first stage of debate last month to drop out .
“I think there are too many people in the field,” he told CBS News’ Face the Nation Sunday morning. “If you don’t make it to the debate stage, you should probably consider getting out.”
Former Maryland governor Larry Hogan is still considering a third-party candidate for president under the No Labels movement — and says there are too many Republicans running in 2024
Leaving this parameter aside, Hogan also says that Vivek Ramaswamy, who debated in Milwaukee last month, “shouldn’t run for president” because he’s just a “cheerleader and stand-in for Trump.”
“I think there are too many people in the field,” he added.
In addition to Ramaswamy, the other seven candidates who took the stage for the first debate were Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum.
Former President Donald Trump met poll and donor qualifications to debate, but skipped the meeting and instead sat down with ex-Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
In addition to the Democrats, both parties are also bracing for third-party bids from No Labels once the primary is over.
No Labels is a bipartisan political movement that aims to bring together leaders from all sides to propose a solution to the growing division. The movement has not yet put forward a candidate for 2024, but has been hinting at it in recent months.
Hogan says if a candidate failed the first stage of the debate last month, he or she should drop out of the race — but he also had specific criticisms of millennial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy (fourth from right), who he called a “cheerleader” is for Trump
It appears that No Labels will only secure a presidential ticket in 2024 if they feel the Republican and Democratic candidates are “weak.” Specifically, this group opposes Trump getting the GOP nomination.
Hogan said in his CBS interview that he won’t “shut the door” if he wants to run a No Labels presidential ticket as a Republican-esque candidate.
“I hope we don’t get to that point,” he told presenter Robert Costa. ‘I didn’t close the door to that. If I believe that we can actually win the race. We strongly suspect that those two big candidates are weak. Maybe we should try to do something that’s never been done before, and that’s pretty much what I did in Maryland.”
Senator Manchin of West Virginia has long been a moderate voice in the Senate — and could be the Democratic nominee pushed forward by the Party if they oppose current President Joe Biden’s nomination for a second term.