President Trump referred to Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan as “flawed” and a “RINO” after a report said the governor ordered flawed COVID-19 tests from South Korea.
“Report: Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, Anti-Trump Hero, Paid for Flawed Coronavirus Tests from South Korea,” Trump said on Twitter, quoting a Breitbart News headline. “This RINO will never make the grade. Hogan is just as bad as the flawed tests he paid big money for!”
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
According to the Breitbart report, Hogan directed his state to purchase 500,000 COVID-19 tests after the governor grew frustrated with the Trump administration’s testing program. Hogan even met the plane at the airport, boasting on Twitter that the tests were a “critical building block” in Maryland’s pandemic recovery plan.
“Each part of this international collaboration was unprecedented, and required an amazing team effort,” Hogan said on Twitter. “I want to sincerely thank our South Korean partners for assisting us in our fight against this common, hidden enemy.”
The most critical building block of our recovery plan for Maryland is the ability to do widespread testing. The incredible success of this operation has not only put us on track to achieve that goal, but it will literally help save the lives of thousands of Marylanders.
— Governor Larry Hogan (@GovLarryHogan) April 20, 2020
Breitbart reported that Hogan received positive media coverage from the New York Times, NPR, and Associated Press for the purchase, but that less attention was paid to the fact that the tests don’t work and that Maryland had paid 20%-30% more than they could have paid for the same tests from U.S. manufacturers.
According to a Friday Washington Post report, Maryland never used the tests because of their flaws and hid those flaws from the state legislature.
“Hogan and his top health and procurement officials withheld the tests’ flaws from the legislature, state spending authorities and the public, according to a review of public testimony and hundreds of pages of emails and other records,” the Washington Post reported.
