'He was the guy to beat': GOP insider ranks Ron DeSantis' 2024 campaign 'the worst I’ve ever seen'

Ex-Maryland Governor Larry Hogan (R) told CBS News chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett on Wednesday that he views Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis' 2024 presidential campaign as an unsalvageable failure.

"As you look at the Republican field governor, evaluate Ron DeSantis so far," Garrett said.

"I think DeSantis has really underperformed," Hogan responded. "You know, he started out, and we've seen this happen before in other races, but he was the one getting all the attention and he was wall-to-wall coverage on Fox News. He was the only one other than Trump that was, was really getting a lot of attention. He raised a ton of money. He was a fairly successful governor in a big state who got reelected. And then he started, you know, making all kinds of mistakes. I think the campaign is one of the, one of the worst I've seen so far. And he's dropped like a rock. And so I think people started to say, 'Well, maybe we're willing to consider someone other than Trump.' They took a look at Ron DeSantis and then went back to Trump. So he, I think he dropped eighteen, twenty points in the polls. And now you're seeing other people rise up and yeah, there were a whole bunch of people stuck in single digits. I was one of them. We were all, statistically, you know, within the margin of error of each other. There were seven or eight different people. One of them, I think has a chance to surpass Ron DeSantis."

READ MORE: Hogan: 2024 GOP candidates 'should be disqualified from running' for refusing to 'challenge' Trump

Hogan declined to mount a bid for the GOP nomination and is a stalwart critic of former President Donald Trump, who maintains frontrunner status despite being criminally indicted by the United States Department of Justice and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Now, DeSantis has his badge.

"Is it over for DeSantis?" Garrett asked.

I think it's getting close to being over. I mean, you can always yell. You see comebacks — John McCain pulled a comeback and Bill Clinton pulled a comeback but at this point he's headed in the wrong direction.

"And if you were to describe the central mistake he made, what would it be?" Garrett followed up.

READ MORE: 'Weaknesses': Larry Hogan explains why DeSantis’ bad polls are bringing more into the 2024 race

Hogan sped through DeSantis' weaknesses, but the strengths appeared to prove challenging.

"You know, I think the culture wars, the dumb comments about Ukraine, the fact that he, you know, he's got some, he's got some strengths, but he's also got some weaknesses. I mean, he's, he just doesn't connect with people. He's not a good campaigner. He's not a good debater," Hogan replied.

"Uh, he's a smart guy. Uh, went to Yale. Yale and Harvard, uh, doesn't lead with that. Yeah, he doesn't lead with that," Hogan quipped. "Uh, yeah, he says he went to school in the Northeast somewhere. But yeah. I think, you know, everybody was thinking he was the guy to beat and now I don't think too many people think that.

Watch the segment at this link.

READ MORE: Larry Hogan lashes out at Donald Trump as Maryland governor’s race becomes a referendum on MAGA