It’s been nine years since former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan was diagnosed with cancer — just a few months into his first term as the state’s chief executive. Hogan, a Republican, is now running for the U.S. Senate. In an interview with WTOP, he discusses what he learned during his cancer battle and what he thinks of former President Donald Trump’s recent endorsement of him.
WTOP has also reached out to Democratic Senate candidate Angela Alsobrooks for a one-on-one interview.
The transcript below has been lightly edited for clarity.
Anne Kramer: Governor, good to have you back on. What a remarkable story that you have to share. You are cancer-free now for so many years. How are you feeling today?
Larry Hogan: Well, I feel terrific. The only thing — I didn’t get my hair back. So I’ve got this sleek look. But other than that I’m stronger than ever, and I’m really healthy and cancer-free and certainly still grateful for the great doctors and nurses and all the folks that were praying to get me through it.
Nick Iannelli: When you first made that announcement. Was there anything behind the scenes that might surprise Marylanders? For instance, did you think that maybe you might have to leave office or something like that?
Larry Hogan: Well, you know, when I first got the diagnosis, that was quite a shock. And three doctors that I didn’t know walked into a room and said, ‘Governor, we’ve got some very concerning news to share with you.’ I had very aggressive and advanced cancer that had kind of spread all over my body. So it was, it was certainly a scary diagnosis.
My first thought was — it was Father’s Day weekend — and I asked, you know, how was I going to tell my wife and my three daughters and my dad, who was still around at the time and visiting us for the weekend. And then I had to decide how would I tell my staff and the 6 million people in Maryland that had just kind of elected me governor. But it was a tough, tough battle. And I just kept staying positive and had a great team.
When I first had that press conference … they asked me if I would step aside. … They said would there be any circumstance where the lieutenant governor would have to take over for you? And I said, ‘Yeah, well, if I died, then the lieutenant governor will take over, but I’m planning on staying around and beating it.’ But we were governing the state from the hospital bed. There were months of 24-hour-a-day chemotherapy.
Anne Kramer: We all remember that story well. When you think back to 2015, what would you tell the younger Larry Hogan, at the time, now?
Larry Hogan: Well, you know, I learned an awful lot going through this. I realized the things that are really important in life. And they’re not things, but people. You go through all the ups and downs of politics and the crazy stuff that people are arguing about and you think, you know, is that really what matters? But it’s really the people you love and care about. And I think I’m more empathetic than I was back then. I got a chance to get to know so many of my fellow cancer patients and their families and to see, you know, how difficult it is to go through.
Nick Iannelli: You mentioned, life is short. And this really puts that into perspective. And you continued your political career, now. You’ve made a difficult decision to run for the U.S. Senate. That’s a pretty grueling thing to do. Did this play a role in your thinking about it? Because you only have so much time on this earth?
Larry Hogan: It didn’t really enter into my thinking that way. But I think, you know, having been through a tough, life-threatening battle, other challenging battles don’t seem so tough anymore. You know, people say, Well, how can you put up with people saying mean things or attacking you from the right or the left? And I’ll say, ‘You know, it really is not much compared to life-threatening cancer.’
Anne Kramer: Keeping it all in perspective is a little bit easier, correct?
Larry Hogan: Yeah, right, exactly.
Anne Kramer: Well, while we have you with us, we would be remiss if we didn’t give you the opportunity to respond. Donald Trump made headlines last week when he said that he would like to see you win that U.S. Senate seat. … Our listeners know what your campaign said that you didn’t support Trump when he ran the first time and you didn’t support the second time — you’re not supporting him now. But what were you thinking about when you heard that he had made that statement, Governor?
Larry Hogan: We were just a little bit surprised. It was obviously not something that we were seeking and didn’t want and didn’t have any interest in. It also was a surprise because for a few weeks before that, they were sort of saying just the opposite. We were getting blown up by Trump’s campaign manager and his daughter-in-law who was running the RNC saying really bad things about me and then, all of a sudden, Donald Trump switched gears and started saying nice things about me.
But look, it’s not what we’re focused on. My race is focused on the people in Maryland, the job that I did as governor, my plans for what I intend to do in the Senate. And I think people are going to make their own decisions about the presidential race. But I don’t think that Donald Trump’s endorsement — if you want to call it that; it was sort of a weak, half-hearted endorsement. But he did answer the question that he wanted me to win. I don’t know that that’s going to have any impact on the race at all.
Nick Iannelli: Do you publicly reject that endorsement? Is that fair to say?
Larry Hogan: Well, I just said I didn’t seek it. I didn’t want to have it. And I have no interest in it. It’s not something we’re going to be promoting, that’s for sure. In a state that Donald Trump lost by 33 points, it doesn’t really carry a lot of voters over to our cause. So I don’t think we’re going to have any interest in accepting it.
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