Former Republican Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan inexplicably leveled sharp criticism this week against Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and dismissed his presidential candidacy as being "close to being over," Breitbart reported.

The remarks were inexplicable in that DeSantis is inarguably the chief contender to challenge former President Donald Trump for the Republican Party's 2024 nomination, and Hogan has vowed to do anything and everything possible to ensure that Trump is not the GOP nominee and never returns to the White House.

DeSantis campaign "one of the worst I've seen so far"

Former Gov. Hogan recently sat for an interview with Major Garrett of CBS News and discussed the possibility of an independent or third-party candidate who could provide voters with an alternative to either former President Trump or current President Joe Biden in next year's election.

He said he was "not pursuing" an independent or third-party nomination -- though he did signal an openness to the idea -- and insisted that he was singularly focused on "trying to stop Donald Trump from becoming the Republican nominee."

Garrett asked Hogan to "evaluate" DeSantis so far as a candidate, to which Hogan replied, "I think DeSantis has really underperformed."

The former governor noted that DeSantis started strong with lots of attention and substantial fundraising, but then "He started making all kinds of mistakes. I think the campaign is one of the worst I’ve seen so far and he’s dropped like a rock."

Hogan went on to suggest that Republican primary voters may have checked DeSantis out as a potential alternative to Trump but decided they didn't like what they saw and returned to supporting the former president, causing the Florida governor to fall in the polls while other candidates have begun to rise but remain mired in the single digits in terms of polling support.

Hogan says DeSantis campaign is "getting close to being over"

Garrett then asked bluntly, "Is it over for Ron DeSantis?" to which former Gov. Hogan replied, "I think it’s getting close to being over," though he acknowledged the possibility of a "comeback" as has been seen by other candidates in past elections who initially faltered but ultimately won their party's nomination. "But," Hogan clarified, "at this point, he's headed in the wrong direction."

The CBS News host asked the former moderate GOP establishment governor to describe the "central mistake" DeSantis has made. Hogan said, "The culture wars, the dumb comments about Ukraine, the fact that -- he’s got some strengths, but he’s also got some weaknesses. I mean, he just doesn’t connect with people. He’s not a good campaigner. He’s not a good debater. He’s a smart guy, went to Yale and Harvard."

Garrett interjected to point out that DeSantis "doesn't lead with that" about his education, at which Hogan chuckled and said, "Yeah he doesn’t lead with that. He says he went to school in the northeast somewhere."

"But yeah, I think, you know, everyone was thinking he was the guy to beat and now I don’t think too many people think that," he added.

Hogan's own presidential bid failed to launch

To be sure, former Gov. Hogan was correct that Gov. DeSantis has fallen somewhat in the polls, albeit not quite "like a rock," but still remains solidly in second place behind former President Trump.

Furthermore, there is no indication that the drop-off for DeSantis, which is mirrored by a rise in support for Trump, is actually due to any sort of "mistakes" on the governor's part and not instead directly related to voter sympathy for Trump being criminally indicted by partisan prosecutors.

As for Hogan, who'd been toying for months with the idea of his own 2024 presidential bid but never rose above a few percentage points of support in the polls, he told CBS News in March that he would not be running and instead would support whoever could beat Trump for the nomination -- though that apparently doesn't include DeSantis.