One of the Democratic Party’s rising stars, Maryland Governor Wes Moore, offered a full-throated endorsement of President Joe Biden at a Semafor Principals Live event in Washington Tuesday.
Moore, a first-term Democrat sometimes mentioned as a possible presidential candidate, told Semafor editor-at-large Steve Clemons that “you are not going to find a more vocal supporter of President Biden than me.”
“We’re now going on five straight months of historically low unemployment in our state. We’re now building roads and tunnels and infrastructure,” he said. “None of that will be real without President Biden.”
Moore’s embrace of Biden comes as the President is facing a string of polls that show him pulling even with former President Donald Trump in a potential 2024 rematch. Moore says that doesn’t worry him.
“It’s the Biden Administration that’s actually helping to bring the momentum, bring the energy, bring the capital,” adding “I just think we need to be unapologetic and loud about that.”
In a wide-ranging interview, the Maryland Democrat expanded on his push for diversity in government, his approach towards combating crime, and why he calls Maryland’s economy “lazy.”
Some of the highlights:
- “We’re showing that putting a focus on diversity and a focus on excellence is not a mutually exclusive conversation. You actually can do both. And knowing at the same time we have some of the best, country’s best social entrepreneurs, best CEOs, who have actually left and said, ‘I’m going to be a cabinet secretary.'”
- “We made historic investments in the organized crime unit because we have to focus and get these illegal guns out of our neighborhoods. 65 % of the guns that are recovered in Baltimore City, it’s not that they’re not from Baltimore. They’re not from Maryland. These things are being trafficked into our communities. And these illegal guns and these gun trafficking rings have got to be addressed and they’ve got to be stopped.”
- “The economy in the state of Maryland is the same size as it was in 2018…the villain is that our economy is lazy. We’re just not investing. You know, we, we have an economy, you know, I, as I say, when you look at our state, we have some of the greatest assets that you could ever possibly imagine.”
Video
Principals Live with Governor Wes Moore
Streamed live on Sep 12, 2023 — Join Semafor’s Founding Editor-at-Large Steve Clemons & Governor Wes Moore for an exclusive interview exploring how Maryland is building a competitive and inclusive business environment, how it’s boosting green technology, and why he thinks AI can help government work better.
Source: Semafor
Featured image: Maryland Governor Wes Moore by Kristoffer Triplaar
