Trump brings excitement to Maryland Republicans
WASHINGTON (Originally published by Talk Media News) – Maryland Republicans said they are enthusiastic about the possibility of a Trump presidency, even though the state’s extremely popular Gov. Larry Hogan Jr., declined to endorse the GOP nominee and chose not to attend the convention.
Former Maryland Governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., attended the convention with his wife Kendel who is an elected delegate as well as an enthusiastic Trump supporter.
The former governor told TMN that he supported former House colleague and personal friend Ohio Gov. John Kasich during the primary season. Kasich declined to endorse Trump and like Hogan is not attending the convention.
Ehrlich said he decided to support Trump largely to prevent Hillary Clinton from capturing the White House.
“That season has ended,” Ehrlich said. “This is the general election; it’s the real season. We have a nominee. We have a nominee who is light years different from Hillary Clinton. We have a nominee who I agree with on some issues but disagree with on others — but is far far far preferable than anything the Democrats…[have] produced.”
Ehrlich expressed his contention that Republicans should come together and rally behind Trump now that the candidate has earned the GOP nomination. Ehrlich said Trump will likely do better among working class voters in swing states than did Mitt Romney in 2012.
“Mitt Romney did not complete the deal with these folks in Pennsylvania, in Michigan, in Wisconsin,” Ehrlich said. “I believe that Donald Trump can complete the deal politically, and I think he’ll be America’s CEO.”
Joe Cluster, executive director of the Maryland Republican Party, attended the convention as a delegation aide. Cluster said he is supporting Trump because the nominee will reduce the size of the federal government.
“Government’s too big, and it’s too much of a bureaucracy,” Cluster said. “Hopefully he’ll be able to reign in some of the government spending because he’ll be able to look at it as a business, and you can’t run your business like the federal government runs.”
State Delegate Trent Kittleman (R-Carroll & Howard Counties) attended the convention as a visitor. Kittleman said her support for Trump can partially be attributed to the nominee’s formidable communication skills.
“There’s just something about Donald Trump that I get,” Kittleman said. “I understand communication and that’s something that is difficult. Communication across the board is difficult from any people who are different from other people; and I just understood him.”
Kittleman explained that she became impressed with Trump’s business acumen after reading one of his books. She affirmed that after having met the real estate mogul last year at a local Republican event she became convinced that Trump is “a good human being,” who “really cares about America.”
Bryan is an award-winning political journalist who has extensive experience covering Congress and Maryland state government.
His work includes coverage of the election of Donald Trump, the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and attorneys general William Barr and Jeff Sessions-as well as that of the Maryland General Assembly, Gov. Larry Hogan, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bryan has broken stories involving athletic and sexual assault scandals with the Baltimore Post-Examiner.
His original UMBC investigation gained international attention, was featured in People Magazine and he was interviewed by ABC’s “Good Morning America” and local radio stations. Bryan broke subsequent stories documenting UMBC’s omission of a sexual assault on their daily crime log and a federal investigation related to the university’s handling of an alleged sexual assault.