Hogan: Trump’s legal woes preventing other GOP presidential candidates from gaining traction

By Carolina Stanton On Jul 24, 2023

Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan says the crowded field of GOP White House hopefuls can blame former President Donald Trump’s legal troubles for their weak poll numbers.

The anti-Trump Republican suggested Sunday that the focus on the criminal charges against the ex-president means less attention for the other 2024 candidates trying to chip away at his 30-point lead over the nearest challenger.

“The fact is that nobody else can get any traction or attention because all we’re talking about is Donald Trump’s legal troubles,” Mr. Hogan said on MSNBC’s “Inside with Jen Psaki.”

“While people haven’t left Trump as quickly as I would have hoped, there are about half of the people in the Republican primary who do not want Donald Trump. They just can’t decide on which of the other 11 candidates they want to support because they aren’t getting much oxygen or airtime,” he said.

Mr. Trump is facing criminal charges in Manhattan over alleged campaign finance violations related to hush-money payments to women before the 2016 election to shield extramarital affairs. He also has been charged in Florida of mishandling classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate after leaving office.

Special counsel Jack Smith, who is prosecuting Mr. Trump in the classified documents case, also is preparing to have a grand jury indict him over efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Still, Mr. Trump maintains a commanding lead in the polls, besting his nearest competitor, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, by an average of roughly 30 points.

“It hasn’t hurt Trump the way that most people would imagine it should have hurt Trump,” Mr. Hogan said of the charges against him. “But it has impacted the dynamic of the Republican primary race.”