President Donald Trump is taking aim at Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) for a report that says he spent millions of dollars on COVID-19 tests for his state that did not work.
In a tweet on Sunday, Trump blasted Hogan as he cited a report that alleged the Maryland governor had spent $9.46 million in the spring to buy 500,000 COVID-19 tests, which were not used because they were flawed.
“Report: Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, Anti-Trump Hero, Paid for Flawed Coronavirus Tests from South Korea,” Trump wrote.
Report: Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, Anti-Trump Hero, Paid for Flawed Coronavirus Tests from South Korea https://t.co/PHV7euutVb via @BreitbartNews. This RINO will never make the grade. Hogan is just as bad as the flawed tests he paid big money for!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 22, 2020
He added, “This RINO will never make the grade. Hogan is just as bad as the flawed tests he paid big money for!”
Shortly after the tweet, Hogan responded by slamming the president for his response to the virus, “If you had done your job, America’s governors wouldn’t have been forced to fend for themselves to find tests in the middle of a pandemic, as we successfully did in Maryland.”
If you had done your job, America's governors wouldn't have been forced to fend for themselves to find tests in the middle of a pandemic, as we successfully did in Maryland.
— Governor Larry Hogan (@GovLarryHogan) November 22, 2020
Stop golfing and concede. https://t.co/tCXO8etxge
“Stop golfing and concede,” he added.
Earlier on Sunday, Hogan expressed his frustration that many elected Republican officials have been reluctant to call out Trump’s refusal to concede the election, as IJR reported.
“It’s time for them to stop the nonsense. It just gets more bizarre every single day, and frankly, I’m embarrassed that more people in the party aren’t speaking up,” he said during an appearance on CNN.
Despite being a member of the same party, Hogan has not been afraid to speak out about the president’s “hopeless” response to the coronavirus outbreak.
In an op-ed in The Washington Post in July, Hogan eviscerated Trump’s response to the pandemic, “While other countries were racing ahead with well-coordinated testing regimes, the Trump administration bungled the effort.”
“Instead of listening to his own public health experts, the president was talking and tweeting like a man more concerned about boosting the stock market or his reelection plans,” he added.
