Larry Hogan belittles Ramaswamy as ‘cheerleader’ for Trump

Ex-Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on Sunday belittled multimillionaire biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy as a mere “cheerleader” for former President Donald Trump.

In an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Hogan chided that Ramaswamy “shouldn’t be running for president, he … obviously is trying to apply for a job for Trump.”

“[Ramaswamy] is up there being a cheerleader and a fill-in for Trump,” he asserted.

An ardent critic of Trump, Hogan needled Ramaswamy, 38, for looking like he’s really vying for vice president or a Cabinet post.

“If you’re in there running for vice president, or you’re trying to be a Cabinet secretary, or you’re trying to become famous, or write a book or get on television, you should get the heck out of the race,” Hogan said.

Ramaswamy’s campaign reveled in the withering attack.

“When Larry Hogan, Chris Christie, Nikki Haley, The New York Times, MSNBC and the rest of the bipartisan establishment are all going after you at the same time, you know you’re right over the target,” a campaign spokeswoman told The Post.

Trump has mused about the possibility of tapping Ramaswamy as a running mate — despite the former president’s penchant for unleashing on political rivals.

Ramaswamy had hailed Trump as the “best president of the 21st century” during the first GOP debate last month — and has billed his campaign as a bid to take the former president’s policies “to the next level.”

Other rivals like former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have needled Ramaswamy to drop out of the running if he believes Trump was so great.

The 38-year-old says he plans to vote for Trump even if he’s convicted for various 91 criminal counts pending against him.

“I do not want to see us become a banana republic where the administrative police state uses police force to eliminate opponents from competition,” Ramaswamy told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. “That’s not the way it works.”

Moderator George Stephanopoulos grilled Ramaswamy over his plans to vote for Trump even if convicted, but the 2024 hopeful argued he believes Trump would be better than the alternative — and noted the GOP pledge he took to support the eventual nominee.

He also argued “many of these prosecutions are wrong,” while conceding he disagreed with many of the actions by Trump and his allies — like furnishing a set of “phony” alternative electors in the aftermath of the 2020 election and Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021, White House Ellipse speech.

“If I’m the president, yes, I will pardon him, because that will help reunite the country,” Ramaswamy said. “But it’s not the most important thing I’m going to do as the next president. It’s the table stakes for moving this country forward.”

Ramaswamy emerged as a breakout star of the first GOP debate, garnering the most online buzz. He’s polling in third place of the Republican pack, the latest RealClearPolitics polling aggregate shows.

Despite toying with a run, Hogan ultimately opted not to jump into the crowded 2024 GOP primary for president, though he’s keeping open the possibility of running as a third party candidate.

Hogan told “Face the Nation” he has “not closed the door” on mounting a 2024 bid under the No Labels ticket.

“It’s not something I’m pursuing,” Hogan said. “If I believe that we can actually win the race, we might have to try to pull off something that’s never been done.”