Former governor of
Maryland, Larry Hogan, is running for Maryland’s vacant Senate seat this
November and is hoping to become a champion for Israel in the U.S. Senate.
Hogan has not held
political office in Maryland since 2022, when his second term as Maryland governor
ended. He was the third most popular governor in the United States, with a 70%
approval rating when he left office, according to a 2022 Morning Consult poll.
Hogan has nonetheless remained active in politics. He briefly considered
running for president at the urging of his dear friend, Senator Joseph
Lieberman, z”l. Ultimately, he
decided not to do so and endorsed Nikki Haley for president instead.
After initially
declining to run for Senate in 2022, Hogan unexpectedly applied to run in the
2024 Senate race to succeed the retiring senior senator, Ben Cardin. He won the
Republican primary and is now facing Prince George’s County Executive Angela
Alsobrooks in this November’s general election. Maryland has not had a
Republican senator since Charles Mathias retired in 1987. If anyone can finally
break the Democratic grip over the Maryland congressional delegation, Larry
Hogan is the most formidable candidate to prevail. After all, Hogan defied the
odds in winning the governorship twice in a heavily blue state.
I interviewed
Governor Larry Hogan for the Where What When nearly eight years ago
during his first term as governor. That 2016 article was titled “My One-on-One Meeting with Governor Larry
Hogan.” I recall the 2016 meeting taking place at the Maryland Governor’s
elegant and spacious office located in the State House in Annapolis. When I
entered the Governor’s office, Governor Hogan directed me to his desk, which
was situated in front of American and Maryland state flags, and we began the
interview.
At that time,
Hogan had just returned from embarking on a seven-day trade mission to Israel,
and he spoke to me at length about the highlights of his trip, which included
meeting with Israeli businessmen to persuade them to forge stronger economic
ties with Maryland. He recounted to me how he would never forget his trip to
Israel. Indeed, the Jewish community had a reliable friend in the 62nd
Maryland governor. Among his signature achievements, which pleased the Jewish
community, was Hogan’s 2017 executive order, where he required firms that
contract with Maryland to pledge that they will not boycott Israel. The Council
of American Islamic Relations (CAIR) later sued Hogan for signing this executive
order. The courts ultimately refused to strike down the executive order.
The Jewish Vote Will Make a Difference
Fast-forward
almost eight years later. A lot has changed since Hogan’s previous interview
with the WWW, both politically and globally. Our first interview
occurred towards the end of the Obama administration. The political
scene is much more polarized than in 2016, and the world is more volatile after
October 7th . Support for Israel is more critical than ever before.
Recently, Hogan sat down with me for another exclusive interview for the WWW to discuss this year’s senate race,
among other topics, such as the pro-Hamas protests, antisemitism, and the
polarizing political climate plaguing the United States.
Without having the
backdrop of the Governor’s office for this interview, we met casually at the
Black Lion Coffee shop in downtown Silver Spring alongside other customers
sipping their coffee at nearby tables. Hogan’s staff selected this location
because he was in the Silver Spring area on the morning of the interview,
having attended a private event for the Orthodox Jewish community of Kemp Mill,
where roughly 100 people showed up to meet the former governor. At the Kemp
Mill event, Hogan recalled conversing with attendees, some of whom proclaimed,
“I’m a lifelong Democrat, but thank you for your support of Israel. This is the
time. I’ve never voted for a Republican, but I’m voting for you!” These
comments encourage the Hogan campaign, as he needs the support of Democrats to
win the election.
Hogan is leaning
heavily on the Jewish community, in hopes that support from Jewish voters will
propel him to the Senate. He has spent considerable time this campaign season
reaching out to Jewish voters while visiting synagogues, delis, and community
centers. He plans to continue courting Jewish voters through Election Day.
Hogan’s first
speech as a candidate for Senate in March was at Beth Shalom Congregation in
Potomac for the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington. Hogan
says support from the Jewish community has surpassed the levels of his
gubernatorial campaigns of 2014 and 2018. He expects Israel to be a pivotal
issue of the campaign, which, he says, distinguishes him from his opponent,
Angela Alsobrooks. “I’ve always been and always will continue to be a champion
for Israel. My opponent is closer to Chris Van Hollen (Maryland’s junior
Senator), who’s helping to run her campaign or one of her chief supporters.” Alsobrooks,
Hogan tells me, has called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and backs cutting
U.S. aid to Israel. In fact, on the same day that Prime Minister Netanyahu
delivered his address to Congress, Hogan wrote a letter to Alsobrooks urging
her to renounce her calls to cut U.S. aid to Israel. As of press time,
Alsobrooks has yet to respond to Hogan’s letter or reverse her position on
cutting U.S. aid to Israel.
Hogan Lambasts Van
Hollen and Harris for Boycotting Netanyahu’s Speech to Congress
Approximately half
of congressional Democrats boycotted Prime Minister Netanyahu’s July 24th
speech to Congress, including Senator Chris Van Hollen, Vice-President Kamala
Harris, and former Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. Van Hollen delivered
remarks on the Senate Floor, where he said that he was boycotting the speech
because, in his words, “Netanyahu remains the leader of the most extreme
right-wing government coalition in the history of Israel.” He said it was a
“big mistake to invite Prime Minister Netanyahu to address a joint session of
Congress.” He further charged that Netanyahu puts “his own political survival
first above the interests of the people of Israel and those American citizens,”
including failing to prioritize “the safe return of all the hostages.” He then
falsely accused Israel of killing more than 39,000 Palestinians, half of whom
he claimed were women and children, even though that statistic comes straight
out of the Hamas-run Ministry of Health playbook.
To add fuel to the
fire, after Netanyahu delivered his address to Congress, which Hogan described
as being “forceful” and “strong,” Pelosi disingenuously blabbered that
Netanyahu’s speech was “by far the worst presentation of any foreign dignitary
invited and honored with the privilege of addressing the Congress of the United
States.”
Hogan was critical
of Harris and Van Hollen, stating that it was outrageous and unacceptable for
them not to attend the speech. I asked Hogan if he had any insight into why Van
Hollen hates Israel so much. This question, Hogan said, came up at the Kemp Mill
event. While he did not have such insight, Hogan maintained that “Van Hollen
has never been a strong supporter of Israel, but he’s become much more hostile.
He and Bernie Sanders are probably the most outspoken anti-Israel members, and
I don’t know where it comes from, frankly, but I’ve called it out multiple
times.”
This backstabbing
of Netanyahu and the propensity on the part of some Democrats to adopt Hamas’
talking points seriously concerns Hogan. “There’s a real divide in the
Democratic Party. I don’t know where this pro-Hamas sympathy comes from after
the horrific attacks of October 7th. We’re seeing the rise of this.
We just saw it after Netanyahu’s speech when they’re [the rioters] taking down
and burning the American flags while putting up the Palestinian flags and spray
painting ‘Hamas is here’ and ‘Hamas is coming’ and ‘death to Israel’ and ‘death
to the USA.’ Many Democrats are espousing those kinds of positions.”
Although Hogan was
not able to attend Netanyahu’s speech since he is not a member of Congress, he
did have an opportunity to welcome the Prime Minister to Washington and listen
to Prime Minister Netanyahu deliver a beautiful eulogy for Senator Joseph
Lieberman at a memorial service held earlier in the day before his speech to
Congress.
Harris Sends the Wrong
Message to Israel
Vice President
Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, having replaced Biden on
the ticket, met with Netanyahu at the White House the following day after his
speech to Congress. She skipped Netanyahu’s speech to a joint session of
Congress, believing it was more important to speak to a sorority instead.
During the public remarks after the meeting, where Harris can be seen coldly
shaking hands with Netanyahu, she stated that she had “serious concern about
the scale of human suffering in Gaza, including the death of far too many
innocent civilians,” implying that Israel is responsible for causing the deaths
of innocent civilians. She elaborated, “It is time for this war to end, and end in a way
where Israel is secure, all the hostages are released, the suffering of
Palestinians in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can exercise their right
to freedom, dignity and self-determination.”
Reportedly, Prime Minister Netanyahu
was displeased by Kamala Harris’ remarks, which were interpreted to be overly
critical of Israel. An Israeli official told the media outlet Axios that Harris’
statements may have further delayed the prospect of a deal where Hamas would
release the hostages. “When there is such daylight, it pushes the deal further
away and brings a regional escalation closer. We hope that Harris’ public
criticism of Israel won’t give Hamas the impression that there is daylight
between the U.S. and Israel and, as a result, make it harder to get a deal.”
I asked the former governor if he
believes that pressuring Israel to end the war before Hamas is defeated is a
sound message from the Biden/Harris administration. “I think it’s a
terrible message,” Hogan replied. “It’s the opposite of what I’ve been strongly
speaking out about from the day I started my campaign. I thought her not
showing up to the speech was insult enough. Her words were even worse. Most
people want to see an end to needless suffering of innocent civilians, but the
way to bring this to a close is for Hamas to release all the hostages and for
the terrorist leaders to turn themselves in and be held accountable for the
atrocities of October 7th. Until that happens, Israel has every
right, certainly, to go after these murderous terrorists who attack innocent
civilians in the worst attack since the Holocaust.” Hogan expounded on why the
messaging from the White House is so problematic. “I think Israel is starting
to feel, is the U.S. really going to be there for us? And our enemies, I think,
no longer fear us because we’ve got very weak, waffling, vacillating back-and-forth
division here in America that creates more division around the world, and it’s
dangerous.”
As I was listening
to Governor Hogan relay his views on the current administration vis a vis Israel, I noticed that he was
wearing a “Bring Them Home Now” silver dog tag. Hogan proceeded to tell me that
he recently had a private meeting with the mother of 23-year-old American
hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, which moved him to tears. “I was touched by a
human personal touch about what is it like to have one of your children being a
hostage. But then I was also really impressed with how strong and resolute and tough
she was. And how she and her husband are standing up.” Hersh was abducted from
the music festival on October 7th and forcibly transferred to Gaza.
Sadly, Hersh’s arm was blown off from the elbow down as a result of being hit
by a grenade that was thrown into the shelter where he was hiding. His
whereabouts in Gaza are still unknown. Hersh’s parents have steadfastly
campaigned for his release and met with scores of political leaders.
The Crisis of Antisemitism
in the United States
The interview then
shifted to the growing scourge of antisemitism in this country and how our
elected officials should be responding to this crisis. Hogan emphatically
stated, “Well, when I was first elected governor, I gave a speech where I said,
antisemitism has no place in our state of Maryland. I continued to speak out
against it the whole eight years I was governor. It’s reached a whole new level
that’s shocking and frightening, and quite frankly, I think the battle over
this is just beginning, and we need to do everything we possibly can. It starts
with elected officials denouncing and strongly speaking out against the people
[the antisemites]. We have freedom of speech, but when it crosses over into
hate speech, or threatening or impeding on other people’s rights, then we need
to stamp it out and stop it.”
The former governor
does not appear to be someone who robotically recites empty rhetoric,
especially when it comes to the issue of antisemitism. He leads by example,
which is what he did when he confronted Harvard University for disregarding the
pro-Hamas antisemitic protests on their campus shortly after October 7th.
“I’m a guy who worked his way through school at a public university,” said
Hogan. “I was really proud that Harvard asked me to come speak about my
nation-leading response to Covid. I was speaking at the Kennedy School of
Government. I spoke about how we do something about the tribalism and the toxic
politics that are dividing America. I was at the University of Chicago when
those demonstrations took place at Harvard, which was the next place I was
going. I sent a letter to the president of Harvard, denouncing their actions,
really taking it to them for not responding. I resigned from those two
fellowships, and that was before anyone else in the Jewish community started to
pull their money out of Harvard. It was four months before the crazy testimony
in Congress.”
As the Harvard Crimson reported on October 24,
2023, Hogan wrote in his letter to the Harvard University president, “Harvard’s
failure to immediately and forcefully denounce the antisemitic vitriol from
these students is, in my opinion, a moral stain on the University.”
“You were ahead of
the game,” I told Hogan.
“I was appalled. I
watched it on television.” He remembers thinking, “This should not be happening
in one of our greatest universities in the world.”
I inquired whether
Harvard responded to Hogan’s resignation from the fellowships.
“They put out some
very weak response, basically just blowing me off, but it was publicity
all over the country. It was a big deal. I was the first one to speak out,
especially a non-Jew who was leading the charge.” Some of Hogan’s staff advised
him, “You already agreed to the fellowship, and it’s a big deal.” He pushed
back on the advice. “I don’t care! I’m not doing it,” emphasized Hogan as he
instructed his staff to cancel the fellowships.
Pro-Hamas Protestors
Avoid Prosecution
While we were on
the topic of protests, I pointed out to Hogan the following observation: “I
think a lot of people in the community are upset that you have the January 6th
rioters, who were heavily penalized, but you have these protesters who are
burning flags, vandalizing federal property, and setting up encampments, and
they get off scot-free.”
Hogan agreed with
my observation. “Well, I
thought it was terrible that the attorney general in D.C. refused to press
charges on this. (Hogan is referring to the agitators who caused an upheaval in
the nation’s capital while Netanyahu was addressing Congress.) They all should
have been prosecuted; there’s no question about that. We can’t have a double
standard. I’m one of the only people in America who stood up to both the left
and the right when we had the riots in Baltimore. I immediately declared a
state of emergency and sent 1,000 extra police officers and 4,000 members of
the National Guard to stop the violence on the left. And on January 6th,
I sent the Maryland State Police and the Maryland National Guard [who] were the
first to arrive to stop the violence at the Capitol. But we can’t have a double
standard, where we only punish the folks who were breaking into the Capitol and
assaulting police officers but not the crazy far-left people who are defacing
monuments and burning down the flag and threatening people and also pushing
back on officers.”
Iran Is Funding
the Pro-Hamas Protests
In early July,
Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines revealed that bad actors
affiliated with the Iranian government are seeking to influence the pro-Hamas
protests in the United States that have been taking place for months during the
Israel-Hamas war. “We have observed actors tied to Iran’s government posing as
activists online, seeking to encourage protests and even providing financial
support to protestors,” Haines stated.
GOP legislation,
sponsored by Senators Tom Cotton, Marsha Blackburn, and Jim Banks, is currently
on the table, which, if it passes both the Senate and the House, would deport
any non-citizen convicted of a crime while protesting.
While Hogan was
unfamiliar with the specifics of the bill, he addressed the consequences of
having lackadaisical policies on the border, especially when Iran has an
interest in fermenting these protests. “The border is a huge issue,” said
Hogan, “and some people are under the mistaken impression that people crossing
the southern border of the United States are just people from either Mexico or
Central American countries who are just coming here for a better life or to
avoid persecution or to feed their families or work on a farm. No, we’re
actually getting people on the known terror watch list and people from Iran and
from Russia and China and a number of, what, 130 different countries. It’s no
longer just people are coming from around the world to walk in the open back
door. There’s no question that Islamic extremist terrorists have crossed over
that border.” He does not believe that the demonstrators are “grassroots
students who are protesting for a two-state solution. Rather, they “are
professional organizers and outsiders who are fanning the flames, and it looks
like the same kind of thing at every campus.”
The New York Post recently reported that
border patrol agents in San Diego detained three Palestinians with suspected
ties to terrorism after they illegally crossed the border. Hogan also said that
our elected officials at the local level must cooperate with the U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ICE often issues detainers to local
agencies, requesting that they transfer illegal aliens who are in the custody
of the local agency after being convicted of a crime, to ICE’s custody to
deport them after their detention in the local agency has ended. Hogan said
that, unfortunately, his opponent, Angela Alsobrooks, has a record of refusing
to cooperate with ICE. According to Hogan, Prince George’s County and Baltimore
City are the two jurisdictions in Maryland that still ignore the detainers.
How to Lower the Temperature
in Washington
Another hallmark
of Larry Hogan’s whole political career, including his Senate campaign, is his
desire for a reduction in the hatred and the chaos that has dominated the
political scene in the United States over the past many years, which has become
more critical, especially after the attempted assassination of President Trump.
Related to this position, one final question I had for Governor Hogan before we
concluded the interview was this: How would Governor Hogan facilitate bringing
down the temperature in Washington?
While Hogan
realizes he can not restore calm in political discourse by himself, he is at
the forefront of the movement to change the political tone. “It’s reached that
point where we have actual violence, political violence, in America. It’s the
loudest and angriest voices in both parties and the most extreme positions that
are getting all the attention and making most of the noise. We should have a
passionate debate on the issues, but you should do it in a civil way. We’ve got
to get our politics back to the way it used to be. It’s tearing America apart.
I know one person can’t change all of that, but it’s something I’ve been very
passionate about. It’s how I’ve governed
the entire time since I was elected in 2014. In my first inaugural
address, I said that the politics that have divided our nation need not divide
our state, and I was going to usher in a new era of bipartisan cooperation,
where the best ideas rise to the top, based on merit, regardless of which side
of the aisle they come from. That’s how I govern. That’s how I got things done.
That’s how I left as the most successful governor in America with the highest
approval rating with Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. It’s what’s
desperately lacking in Washington. And it seems as if there are people who are
more interested in winning an argument or blaming the other side than they are
in fixing things. The American people want us to come together and solve
problems, and that’s what I intend to do. I’ve always been willing to stand up
to either side when I think they’re wrong and always to work with anyone who
wants to do the people’s business.”
A Larry Hogan
victory on November 5th would certainly be historic and a huge win
for pro-Israel voters. If that were to happen, there is no doubt that the
Jewish community would have played a significant part in Hogan’s electoral
success. It ultimately depends on how many registered Democrats and
Independents he can convince to support his candidacy on Election Day.
Brad E. Kauffman
is an attorney, freelance writer, pro-Israel advocate, and partner at Kauffman
and Forman, PA.
