Republican Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan predicted Tuesday President Trump may struggle to win re-election in 2020.
“The issue I’m concerned about is he has a very low re-elect number, I think in the 30s, high 30s, low 40s. So the chance of him losing a general election are pretty good. I’m not saying he couldn’t win, but he’s pretty weak in the general election,” Hogan told CBS News in an interview set to air in full Wednesday.
“At some point if he weakens further, Republicans would say we’re concerned about whether or not he’s going to win if we’re going to face a very far-left Democratic nominee, and is he going to take the rest of us down with him if you’re an elected official,” he said.
WATCH: @edokeefe speaks to Maryland @GovLarryHogan about President Trump, the future of the GOP — and whether he might challenge the president in 2020.
See more on @CBSThisMorning Wednesday. https://t.co/Ebyo6kmUPK pic.twitter.com/BwRECmRu8x
— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) February 19, 2019
Hogan, who won the Maryland governor’s mansion in 2015, and former Ohio Gov. John Kasich are frequently mentioned potential 2020 primary challengers to Trump.
But Hogan on Tuesday expressed doubt that Trump would be vulnerable to a primary.
“You know he has 70 or 80 percent, some percent of Republican primary voters say they support the president,” he said. “So, I don’t know what it’s going to look like down the road. Today, it would be very difficult. Nobody has successfully challenged a sitting president in the same party in a primary since 1884.”
[Related: Chris Christie has a warning for Larry Hogan]
Republican ex-Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld last week announced he had formed a committee to explore a presidential bid against Trump.
“I’m here because our country is in grave peril, and I cannot sit quietly on the sidelines any longer,” Weld said in New Hampshire.
