Maryland Governor Larry Hogan is facing backlash from both ends of the political spectrum after announcing that he voted for the long-dead Ronald Reagan for president as a protest against Donald Trump.
Speaking to the Washington Post about his decision, Hogan admitted his vote was “simply symbolic,” but said, “I thought it was important to just cast a vote that showed the kind of person I’d like to see in office.”
Symbolic votes are nothing new for the moderate Republican, as he chose to write his father’s name on the ballot in 2016, a politician who was 88 at the time and passed away the following year. Reagan, on the other hand, has been dead for 16 years.
Hogan’s announcement has not found much support, even among Trump critics.
The stunt was blasted as “bulls**t” by former congressman Joe Walsh, a Republican who briefly flirted with the idea of challenging Trump as his party’s nominee, tweeted in reaction.
“To say as you do that Donald Trump is unfit, yet you won’t vote for the ONLY person who can beat him, is cowardly & makes no sense. Really disappointing,” Walsh tweeted.
“This is so cynical and cowardly. At least own up to your intentions. You’re trying way too hard to appease everyone with this, and it’s tragic,” liberal writer and activist Charlotte Clymer added.
Others took on an even more mocking tone when reacting to Hogan’s vote, some even accusing the governor of using the symbolic vote to boost his own national profile ahead of what many experts have predicted will be a 2024 run for president.
WOW SO BRAVE. https://t.co/yUDnL1NYMH
The governor of Maryland, an adult man and not a toddler, wrote in Ronald Reagan. https://t.co/dStvk6VroT
Why I won’t vote for my state’s own governor? Because he didn’t vote. He wasted his ballot on a write-in vote for a Dead President. I would have had more respect for Larry Hogan if he voted for Trump instead of begging for free publicity toward a failed 2024Presidential run. https://t.co/Pqr1GBrmrv
I feel like Hogan is trying to save his own hide and sell himself as a post-Trump GOP savior. But the thing is, I don’t see Trump’s popularity declining anytime soon even if he loses. Hell, if he loses, Trump will be seen as a martyr.
Hogan has long been critical of Trump, but took an especially hardline stance against the administration over its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, blasting Trump for not supporting states enough early on when it came to testing.
The governor ended up procuring testing supplies from South Korea, a move Trump said was completely unnecessary.
“The governor of Maryland could have called Mike Pence, could have saved a lot of money… I don’t think he needed to go to South Korea. I think he needed to get a little knowledge,” the president said in July.
Besides Trump and Democrat Joe Biden, the presidential candidates include Libertarian Party nominee Jo Jorgensen, who is on all 50 state ballots; Green Party nominee Howie Hawkins, who is on most state ballots; and independent hopeful, rapper Kanye West, who has made a handful of ballots.
Like this story? Share it with a friend!
