Sometimes party loyalty demands too much.
That's the word from Maryland Republican Senate hopeful Larry Hogan, who cited former President John F. Kennedy in his campaign ad, which was released Monday and notably snubbed former President Donald Trump.
Trump apparently isn't holding a grudge against the former Maryland governor, despite needling MAGA when Hogan notably broke from GOP by refusing to criticize Trump's trial as rigged and instead pleading for "all Americans to respect the verdict."
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"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 last week.
Even then, Hogan didn't appear ready to sing "Kumbaya" with Trump just yet.
“Governor Hogan has been clear he is not supporting Donald Trump just as he didn’t in 2016 and 2020,” his campaign later responded.
And on Monday, Hogan released a new ad titled, "Independent Leadership" — with mention of the GOP's presidential candidate noticeably absent.
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"Sometimes one person can make a difference," Hogan said, opening the ad. "My dad, Congressman Larry Hogan Senior, was the first Republican to call for President Nixon's impeachment. John McCain gave the big thumbs down, saving Obamacare. During Covid I put people over politics to keep Marylanders safe."
Hogan added that strong independent leaders can make a difference. That's exactly what Washington needs today," he said.
Hogan then turned to words reportedly uttered by JFK to wrap his message.
"I'm Larry Hogan. I approved this message. Because as President Kennedy said, 'Sometimes party loyalty demands too much."
Hogan's anti-Trump stance has conflicted with GOP leadership and indeed earned their ire.
The 45th president's daughter-in-law and co-chair of the RNC Lara Trump expressed displeasure when in a CNN appearance last week.
"He doesn’t deserve the respect of anyone in the Republican Party at this point and, quite frankly, anybody in America," she said.
“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.Watch the clip below or at the link here.