During an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper, Republican Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan discussed his reaction to some of the testimony at the January 6th committee hearing last week. After playing a portion of the hearing where Pat Cipollone was questioned about the fact that Trump refused to take any action to stop the insurrection for over three hours, Tapper reminded the viewers that Hogan was "fielding panicked calls from congressional leaders" and "trying to mobilize Maryland police, Maryland National Guard" as Trump sat there like a bump on a log gleefully watching the rioters on television.
Tapper asked Hogan for his reaction.
"Well, I was aware of all of that. So it didn't come as a surprise to me to watch these hearings. But you're right. We -- I was taking action nonstop for three hours. I was on the phone twice with the leaders of Congress. I was talking to the mayor of D.C. I sent in a couple of hundred riot-trained Maryland State Police almost immediately. I called up the Maryland National Guard," Hogan replied.
"And we were attempting for several hours to get approval of the Secretary of Defense, which we didn't get. And I finally several hours later got Ryan McCarthy, acting Secretary of the Army, to say we could send the National Guard," he continued. "But, while he was doing nothing but watching television in the Dining Room, we were -- our entire team was mobilizing and acting and fielding calls and sending in help. We were trying to protect Mike Pence and the members of Congress."
Tapper pressed him again on what his reaction to Trump just sitting there was.
"Well, it doesn't surprise me" Hogan responded. "I knew that he wasn't taking action."
"I knew that we were getting stonewalled," He continued. "I think the testimony made it more riveting for a lot of people that were paying attention."
Tapper also asked Hogan about the fact that so few Republicans have been willing to stand up to Trump, and what his father, who was a congressman on the House Judiciary Committee during the Nixon era, would think of them.
"Well, I think he would be disgusted," Hogan answered, before insisting that Trump's influence is "diminished and will continue to diminish" "between now and the next election."
While there is some polling out there showing some cracks in his support, Trump still has a pretty firm lock on the party. Right now it looks like some wishful thinking on Hogan's part, who is likely to toss his hat in the ring for the GOP presidential primary next time around.
