前马里兰州州长拉里·霍根周二拒绝关闭2024年第三方总统竞选的大门在他周日说他不会寻求共和党提名。
霍根在接受美国广播公司新闻的独家采访时澄清说，独立的总统竞选不是他“积极”考虑的事情，但他不会明确地说，他不会根据民主党和共和党提名人的身份发起一场独立的总统竞选。
“我已经排除了寻求共和党提名的可能性。我没有排除这种可能性(作为独立候选人参选)。但这不是我真正努力或思考的事情，”霍根说，并补充说，“这个问题越来越多。”
霍根是一位在蓝色州受欢迎的共和党州长，今年早些时候任期有限，一直在考虑在2024年共和党初选中作为反唐纳德·特朗普的候选人参加竞选。
然而，他在周末表示，他不会为一个拥挤的提名场做出贡献，在这个提名场中，前总统可能仅以多数支持成为赢家，就像特朗普在2016年再次击败特德·克鲁兹和马尔科·卢比奥以及时任俄亥俄州州长约翰·卡西奇一样。
“要再次成为一个成功的执政党，我们必须超越唐纳德·特朗普。有几个有能力的共和党领导人有潜力站出来领导。但赌注太高，我不能冒险成为另一场多车连环相撞的一部分，这可能有助于特朗普夺回提名，”霍根周日在一份声明中说。
然而，即使没有他参加竞选，霍根周二承认，除了特朗普(他批评霍根是RINO，或者只是名义上的共和党人)或佛罗里达州州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯(唯一一位两位数的潜在候选人)之外，任何保守派都面临着获得共和党提名的艰难挑战。
预计潜在人群仍将包括多名知名议员，前南卡罗莱纳州州长妮基·黑利已经与川普并肩作战，目前还没有明显的整合迹象。
“我们必须找到一个能做到这一点的候选人。在这一点上，我不知道那是谁，”霍根谈到特朗普和德桑蒂斯以外的候选人的成功之路。“但只能有一个。”
“特朗普不得不磕磕绊绊，这很难。他一直在减少。但他仍然是800磅的大猩猩。然后，如果他没有做到这一点，它去德桑蒂斯，然后德桑蒂斯不得不绊倒，”霍根说。“然后你必须巩固其他所有人，并克服这一点。”
2023年2月19日，前州长拉里·霍根出现在华盛顿特区的“会见新闻界”节目中。
威廉B. Plowman/NBC via Getty Images
然而，如果特朗普真的赢得了共和党初选，霍根表示，中间派政治团体No Labels(他是该团体的名誉联合主席)可能会拼凑出一张第三方的票。
霍根说，该组织已经“筹集了约5000万美元，以在所有50个州获得准入权，作为一种保险政策”，以应对“万一‘紧急打碎玻璃’”的情况，他指的是特朗普和总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)之间的大选对决，拜登曾表示他也将在2024年参加竞选。
“我的意思是，他们没有试图成立第三方。他们并不致力于这样做。但万一这个国家被烧毁，你可能必须有一个替代方案，”他说。
霍根坚持认为，这样的一张票将是最后的情况，但可能会由特朗普和拜登之间的大选对决引发。这两位政治家在全国范围内的支持率一直不温不火，但仍被许多人视为最有可能获得各自政党提名的候选人。
“我认为那会是导火索。我想这就是他们在谈论的。我不确定我们会走到那一步。我不知道。坦率地说，我希望唐纳德·特朗普不会成为共和党提名人。我将朝着这个目标努力。我假设拜登可能会被提名，但谁知道呢?我是说，他已经80岁了。我们还有很长的路要走，”霍根说。
至于他自己的未来，霍根似乎对在这样一张票上有他的名字的可能性持开放态度。
“我不确定这是否可行。这也不是我努力的方向，”他说。“但是，我的意思是，你看，如果你参加了一场提名人是拜登和特朗普的选举，而70%的美国人不希望这样，你不会排除这种可能性，对吗?”
Larry Hogan won't close the door on third-party presidential bid in 2024
Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan declined on Tuesday toclose the door on a third-party presidential bid in 2024after he said Sunday thathe would not seek the Republican nomination.
Hogan clarified in an exclusive interview with ABC News that an independent presidential campaign is not something he's "actively" mulling, but he would not definitively say he would not wage one depending on who the Democratic and Republican nominees are.
"I have ruled out seeking the Republican nomination. And I haven't ruled that out [running as an independent]. But it's not something I'm really working toward or thinking about," Hogan said, adding that "the question keeps popping up more and more."
A popular Republican governor in a blue state, Hogan was term-limited out of office earlier this year and had been considering a campaign as an anti-Donald Trump candidate in the 2024 Republican primary.
However, he said over the weekend that he would not contribute to a crowded nominating field in which the former president could emerge as the winner with just a plurality of support, as Trump did in 2016 again Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio and then-Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
"To once again be a successful governing party, we must move on from Donald Trump. There are several competent Republican leaders who have the potential to step up and lead. But the stakes are too high for me to risk being part of another multicar pileup that could potentially help Mr. Trump recapture the nomination," Hogan said in a statement on Sunday.
Even without him in the race, though, Hogan conceded on Tuesday that any conservative other than Trump -- who has criticized Hogan as a RINO, or Republican in name only -- or Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the only other potential candidate polling in double digits, faces an uphill climb in clinching the GOP nomination.
The potential crowd is still anticipated to include multiple notable lawmakers, with former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley already running alongside Trump, and there's no significant consolidation in sight.
"We got to find a candidate that can do that. And I don't know who that is at this point," Hogan said of the path for a candidate other than Trump and DeSantis to be successful. "But there can only be one."
"Trump has to stumble, which is hard. And he's been diminishing. But still, he's the 800-pound gorilla. And then if he doesn't make it, it goes to DeSantis, and then DeSantis has to stumble," Hogan said. "And then you have to consolidate everyone else and overcome that."
Yet if Trump does win the GOP primary, Hogan said the centrist political group No Labels, of which he is an honorary co-chair, could cobble together a third-party ticket.
Hogan said the group has "raised about $50 million to get access in all 50 states as kind of an insurance policy" for an "in case of 'emergency break glass'" scenario, referencing a general election matchup between Trump and President Joe Biden, who has said he will run in 2024 as well.
"I mean, they're not trying to start a third party. They're not committed to doing that. But in case the country is burning down, you may have to have an alternative," he said.
Hogan insisted such a ticket would be a last-case scenario but could be sparked by a general election matchup between Trump and Biden -- two politicians with consistently tepid approval ratings nationally who are nonetheless still seen by many as the likeliest nominees for each of their parties.
"I think that would be the trigger. I think that's what they're talking about. I'm not sure we're gonna get to that point. I don't know that. Frankly, I'm hopeful that Donald Trump is not going to be the Republican nominee. And I'm going to work toward that goal. And I'm assuming Biden may be the nominee, but who knows? I mean, he's 80 years old. And we got a long ways to go," Hogan said.
As for his own future, Hogan appeared open -- among other possibilities -- to having his name on such a ticket should one be launched.
"I'm not sure if it's feasible. And it's also just not something I'm working toward," he said. "But, I mean, look, if you got to an election when the nominees were Biden and Trump and 70% of America didn't want that, you wouldn't rule it out, right?"
