■ Trump’s wild claims test limits of GOP loyalty.

Washington — President Donald Trump’s wild and unsupported claims of voter fraud have emerged as a highstakes Republican loyalty test that illustrates the tug of war likely to define the future of the GOP whether he wins or loses the presidency.

There is a pervasive sense among current and former GOP officials that the president’s behavior is irresponsible if not dangerous, but a divide has emerged between those influential Republicans willing to call him out publicly and those who aren’t.

Driving their calculus is an open acknowledgement that Trump’s better-than-expected showing on Election Day ensures that he will remain the Republican Party’s most powerful voice for years to come even if he loses.

That stark reality did little to silence the likes of Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a second-term Republican who has not ruled out a 2024 White House bid. He described the president’s claims as “dangerous” and “embarrassing.”

“If there are legitimate challenges, we have a process, that’s the way it works,” Hogan told The Associated Press. “But to just make accusations of the election being stolen and widespread fraud without providing any evidence, I thought was really bad for our democratic process and it was something I had never seen in my lifetime.”

“Other Republicans did speak up,” he noted, “but certainly not enough of them.”

Indeed, the most aggressive Republican criticism was limited to the small and familiar group of frequent Trump critics such as Utah Sen. Mitt Romney and Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse, who will not face Republican voters again for at least four years.

On the other side were Trump allies, including the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., who called on Republicans considering running for the party’s nomination in 2024 to come to the president’s defense.

“The total lack of action from virtually all of the ‘2024 GOP hopefuls’ is pretty amazing,” he tweeted. “They have a perfect platform to show that they’re willing & able to fight but they will cower to the media mob instead.”

Several quickly raised their voices, including former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who served as Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, though some Trump allies saw Haley’s statement thanking Trump for helping to deliver “conservative victories” up and down the ballot as reading like a political obituary of sorts for the president.