Full Hogan interview: 2024 decision will come in 'short period of time'

[0:00] Governor Hogan, welcome back to Meet the Press. [0:01] Good morning. [0:02] So usually I reserve these questions for the end, but I'll ask it up front here. [0:06] Have you made a decision? [0:08] I haven't. [0:09] Look, I said I'm going to take a pretty serious look at this, and I'm traveling around the country [0:14] just trying to get a feel for what Republican voters want, what Americans are looking for, [0:19] and we're going to make a decision in a relatively short period of time. [0:24] I'm interested in what Republican voters want. [0:27] Right now, if you watch the other, your potential rivals, it does seem there's only one issue [0:33] that seems to be unifying of the base, and it's sort of these culture wars in education. [0:37] Here's a sampling. [0:40] Go read books like Gender Queer and see what's in there. [0:43] It's inappropriate. [0:45] So we've armed parents the ability to object to that and to make sure that they're having [0:50] education and not indoctrination. [0:52] Across the country, parents' rights are being trampled by politically correct nanny state [0:57] that's ruining our schools and telling parents that they have no role in their children's [1:02] most important decisions. [1:03] There was all this talk about the Florida bill, the don't say gay bill. [1:08] Basically, what it said was you shouldn't be able to talk about gender before third grade. [1:12] I'm sorry. [1:13] I don't think that goes far enough. [1:15] My question to you is not whether this is a legitimate issue to be talking about. [1:20] It's about whether this is the main issue or not. [1:22] Do you view this as the main issue for 2024? [1:25] No, I think it's an important issue, and I do hear it, and people are concerned about [1:30] this as I travel around the country because, you know, most people just don't think we should [1:34] be talking about, you know, things like sex to young kids and that parents want to be [1:38] more involved in decisions about what their kids are being taught. [1:42] However, you know, I think some of this rhetoric is, you know, demanding that things be done [1:48] a certain way or that you can't say this or you can't say that. [1:51] We've got to be really careful about it. [1:52] Does it feel like you're going the other way, like it's sort of like you're on one [1:55] hand, if Governor DeSantis claiming, hey, I don't want all of this, but I'm going to [1:58] tell you exactly what you can say, and I'm going to say what you can't say. [2:02] Well, I'm a small government, you know, common sense conservative, and to me, it sounds like [2:06] big government and authoritarian. [2:09] You have to agree with me, and I'm going to tell you what you can and can't do. [2:12] But it's an issue. [2:13] It's not the most important issue. [2:14] I think more people are concerned about the economy, inflation. [2:18] They're concerned about crime, but education is one of the things that we've got to talk [2:22] about. [2:22] I guess the question, the larger question I have for you, and I feel like you really [2:25] are sort of an old school Reagan Republican. [2:27] There were three legs to the stool, strong on national security, low government, low taxes, [2:33] right? [2:33] Small governments, low taxes, and the culture issues. [2:38] And it seems right now it's only the culture issues that unites the party, that the party [2:41] is actually divided on the other two issues. [2:43] Do you agree with that? [2:44] Well, I agree, and that's, you know, I've been talking out about the important issues [2:48] for a long time, and yeah, I was a Republican governor in the bluest state in America and [2:53] got things done working across the aisle with Democrats. [2:55] I can tell you, it's not what everyone's talking about, but I think some people are making the [2:59] calculation that base primary voters in the Trump lane, that's what they want to hear [3:05] about, and so a lot of candidates are focusing on that. [3:07] But it's, you can't dismiss it, but I don't think it should be the only thing we're talking [3:10] about. [3:10] If you do run, the RNC is trying to get people to pledge, if they want to participate in [3:15] their debates, their sanctioned debates, you have to pledge to support the nominee no matter [3:19] who it is. [3:20] You had an interesting exchange with Hugh Hewitt, and I don't know where you stand on this. [3:24] Where do you stand on this? [3:26] Well, I think it's kind of silly because it's not going to happen. [3:29] We already know President Trump has said numerous times he refuses to. [3:34] So he refuses, why should you, right? [3:35] Well, I mean, if they say you're not going to be on the debate stage, if you won't commit to [3:39] support the nominee, then President Trump won't be on the debate stage, and I don't think [3:42] anybody believes that that's going to happen. [3:45] But look, I think, I think, you know, I'm a lifelong Republican who wants to support the [3:51] nominee of the party, whoever that is. [3:52] However, you know, I've said before, I didn't support Trump. [3:55] I wouldn't support Trump. [3:56] You know, I'd put the country ahead of party and not put somebody in that is not, it should [4:01] not be the president. [4:02] If you thought your candidacy was going to contribute to inadvertently helping Donald [4:06] Trump, would that be a reason not to run? [4:08] That'd be a pretty good reason to consider not running, absolutely. [4:11] I mean, I care much more, I don't care that much about my future in the Republican Party. [4:17] I care about making sure we have a future for the Republican Party. [4:20] And if we can stop Donald Trump and elect a great Republican, common sense, conservative [4:25] leader, certainly that would be a factor. [4:28] I'm curious, in a court filing this week, Dominion Voting released a lot of internal [4:33] communications inside of Fox News. [4:35] However people want to classify Fox News, I'm going to use the description of conservative [4:39] town square. [4:40] It is the town square for conservatives. [4:43] Are you concerned that we now have evidence that essentially the moderators of this town [4:48] square refused to tell the truth to their viewers because they were afraid of offending [4:53] them? [4:54] Well, look, I am concerned about it, and I don't know all the details of it. [4:57] We're just seeing some of these facts come forward with this Dominion case. [5:02] But I think I've been concerned for a long time. [5:05] As I talked to conservative leaders who agreed with what I was saying, you know, I was pretty [5:10] out there, you know, pretty direct answering some of these questions about January 6th, [5:13] about the election wasn't stolen. [5:15] And many of them would say it privately, but then they would go out and say almost the complete [5:20] opposite. [5:20] And it sounds like that's what some of the hosts on Fox News did. [5:23] And I'm hoping that now more people are starting to say exactly what they believe. [5:28] But, Governor, I mean, you look at it, this Michigan Republican Party just elected an election [5:33] deniers party chair, the Kansas Republican Party. [5:35] It feels like the conservative town square is lying to the base, and this is what happened. [5:41] Well, there's no question there's a lot of misinformation out there. [5:44] And I am concerned about some of the parties and people are taking over that are believing [5:47] conspiracy theories. [5:49] And I think we've got to get back to a more, a bigger tent party that can appeal to more [5:53] people. [5:54] Otherwise, we're going to keep losing elections. [5:56] What is your timeline? [5:58] Is it spring? [5:59] Is it the end of spring? [5:59] I think it's sometime this spring, I think, is when you'd have to really get ramped up. [6:05] I mean, we started a federal pact at the end of the year. [6:07] We've been working around the country now for a couple of years. [6:10] But I think you've got to start raising hard dollars and be really in the race, committed [6:13] in the next couple of months. [6:15] Do you think the fact that you were successful in a blue state makes it actually harder for [6:19] you to get a Republican nomination? [6:20] You know, I've got strong support among Republicans, Democrats, and independents. [6:23] And I left as one of the most successful governors in America. [6:27] And I'm the only governor. [6:28] Maryland, independents, and Democrats don't vote in a Republican primary for president [6:31] in Iowa. [6:32] Yeah, well, I mean, I got the same vote Trump did in the Republican primary, and I ran 45 [6:36] points ahead of him in a general. [6:38] Well, there you go. [6:39] Larry Hogan, good to see you. [6:41] Thanks for coming in. [6:41] Thank you, Chuck. [6:42] Thank you for your perspective. [6:42] Thanks for watching our YouTube channel. [6:47] Follow today's top stories and breaking news by downloading the NBC News app.