Earlier today, Governor Hogan joined WBAL Radio with Bobby Zirkin, Co-Chair of Democrats for Hogan, to discuss the Maryland Senate race, the Israeli Prime Minister’s address to Congress, and the protests and burning of the American flag outside Union Station in Washington, DC.
Listen to Governor Hogan’s full interview.
On Maryland Senate Race:
“It’s 102 days, not that I’m counting, but I have a thing on my wall that says that—I tear off the page every day. We’re trying to make use of every one of them. I can tell you no one’s going to outwork me. We’re going all over the state. We’ve been to every single county multiple times. We’re going to continue to do that, trying to talk to voters one at a time.
“It’s going to be a very tight, close race. Obviously, I’m a Republican in the bluest state in America. My opponent wants the whole race to be about D’s and R’s. She’d rather not have names on the ballot. I’m trying to get people to say that I’m exactly the kind of person we need in Washington, that I’m willing to stand up to the current president, to the former president, to the Democratic Party, or the Republican Party. I’m going to fight for Maryland. I got in the race because I was really concerned about the direction that the country is heading, and I’m concerned about how broken Washington is, the toxic, divisive politics. I know these are things that you’re really concerned about, too, Bobby. … There are bipartisan, common-sense solutions. We’ve just got to get the people to stop yelling at one another.”
On Toxic Politics:
“Just down the road from Washington, Bobby, I think we showed a better path forward. And you were a big part of that. You were one of the most bipartisan leaders. You and I are in different parties, but we got a lot done. You mentioned Mike Miller, and he and I would passionately stand up and debate the things that we felt strongly about, but we also were friends. And we could go have a drink together or go have lunch together. We didn’t demean one another. We sometimes had legislative battles, but we never questioned the other person’s integrity or their patriotism.
“I think it’s what’s sorely lacking in Washington. There’s almost nobody that’s working that way. The politics is crazy. It’s nothing but divisiveness and dysfunction. And, I think one of the reasons I’m stepping up is because I think people are ready to give up, and I want to give them hope. And I know one person can’t make all the difference, but I think I can be a voice of reason and sanity to try to get us back on track and to try to bring Republicans and Democrats together to solve some of the serious problems that face us.”
On the Prime Minister’s Speech and Anti-Israel Protests:
“I was with Prime Minister Netanyahu a couple of days ago right before he went to speak to Congress at the memorial service for Joe Lieberman, a dear friend–we were both Co-Chairs of the National No Labels organization. It was a great service, both Vice President Gore, Vice President Pence, and leaders from the Senate from both parties were there to pay him respects. Then afterward, I thought Netanyahu went and gave a pretty strong message to Congress and said some things that needed to be said. But what I was horrified and disgusted by were the look at the scenes at Union Station where they were taking down all the American flags and burning them and raising Palestinian flags and spray-painting, Hamas is here and Hamas is coming and death to Israel and death to America. … It seems as if this anti-Semitic and anti-Israel and anti-U.S., frankly, rhetoric with these far-left pro-Hamas protesters has really gotten out of control.”
