Gov. Hogan: Cummings 'Could Do A Lot More,' But Other Federal Help Needed

Gov. Larry Hogan said Thursday that Rep. Elijah Cummings could be doing more for Baltimore, but that so could everybody else in Washington.

Hogan spoke to Fox News several days after telling WBAL's C4 that President Donald Trump's tweets criticizing Cummings and Baltimore City were "outrageous and inappropriate."

"I don't want to characterize Elijah Cummings. I don't think you can put all the blame of Baltimore City on Elijah Cummings, but I also think he could do a lot more to help us," Hogan said. "I'd love to have more help from the White House and from the Congress, frankly, to help the state go in there and help the city. It's really a city problem, but they can't do it by themselves."

Hogan credited federal officials with helping tackle the state's opioid crisis, including a slew of federal indictments announced Thursday by U.S. Attorney Robert Hur. Hogan said that if there's a "silver lining" to Trump's comments, it could be in drawing attention to the city's continuing needs.

He highlighted state investment in Baltimore schools and the demolition of vacant homes. He reiterated criticism of state lawmakers for their failure to pass legislation mandating stricter sentences for repeat violent offenders.

"We've failed in our urban areas across the country and Baltimore certainly is a perfect example of that and the leadership has failed for decades and decades," Hogan said. "But instead of just focusing on the bad stuff... let's figure out how do we figure out how to fix it."

Hogan took office last week as chair of the National Governors Association. A moderate who neither endorsed Trump nor voted for him in 2016, Hogan earlier flirted with the idea of challenging Trump in the Republican primary before publicly ruling it out. He told Fox News he "never really gave it a lot of consideration," but said he plans to use his new post as a platform for national issues.

Hogan is set to appear early Friday on "Late Night with Seth Meyers," which will air at 12:35 a.m. on WBAL-TV 11.