Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News.
Speaker 2: I'm Joe Matthew alongside Kaylee Lines in Washington with a
Speaker 2: special edition of the Balance of Power podcast. Today a
Speaker 2: conversation with Maryland Governor Wes Moore. We spoke with the
Speaker 2: Democrat following his appearance with Joe Biden in Philadelphia, part
Speaker 2: of a series of events samed to galvanizing support among
Speaker 2: black voters. We started by asking the governor if he
Speaker 2: believes in this perceived weakness for the president in his
Speaker 2: bid for reelection.
Speaker 3: I think the energy is real because people have seen results.
Speaker 3: You know, we know that this is a president who
Speaker 3: is unafraid to be able to delve in some of
Speaker 3: the delve into the larger systemic challenges that oftentimes have
Speaker 3: continued to impact and hurt the Black community. So when
Speaker 3: we're seeing now that coming to the end of his
Speaker 3: first term, that we now have historically low unemployment rates
Speaker 3: amongst African Americans, that were watching an increase in black
Speaker 3: owned businesses businesses starre by Black men that are the
Speaker 3: highest we've seen in thirty years. That we have a
Speaker 3: president that's focusing on work and wages and wealth for
Speaker 3: all members of our society, in all parts of our community.
Speaker 1: I think the results are showing.
Speaker 3: And I do think that whatever polls people are seeing
Speaker 3: six months before an election, the energy that we're seeing
Speaker 3: on the ground for the president, that that is more
Speaker 3: real than Frankly, the poll numbers might indicate.
Speaker 4: Okay, governor. So you may not believe the poll numbers,
Speaker 4: although it is happening consistently across any number of polls.
Speaker 4: There are Black voters out there who are telling pollsters
Speaker 4: they are feeling less likely to vote for Biden this
Speaker 4: time around than they were in twenty twenty. Can you
Speaker 4: just help us with a potential diagnosis as to why
Speaker 4: for some, even if not as many as polls may
Speaker 4: suggest in your mind, why some may not feel that
Speaker 4: the work of this administration is resonating with them. Is
Speaker 4: this a messaging problem?
Speaker 3: Well, I think there's honestly a larger frustration and cynicism
Speaker 3: that does exist in the black community.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 3: And I don't think that's that's Joe Biden's making, But
Speaker 3: I think it is something that the president has got
Speaker 3: to has got to wrestle with, and we've got to
Speaker 3: speak to you know, be honestly, I don't I don't
Speaker 3: I come from not just I don't come from a
Speaker 3: political background or even of political family. I know they
Speaker 3: are family members who I still have to convince to
Speaker 3: get involved. Family was already convinced about for me, simply
Speaker 3: because they hadn't had a history of voting before. So
Speaker 3: that cynicism is historical, that cynicism oftentimes is generational. I
Speaker 3: think what people are seeing with theough, and they'll continue
Speaker 3: to see as the president goes out and continues to
Speaker 3: earn every vote, is that what's also real is the
Speaker 3: fact that we have a measurement of momentum when it
Speaker 3: comes to economic growth and economic success, that we're now
Speaker 3: seeing a measure of growth and actually decrease in the
Speaker 3: wealth gap that exists within the country. That's real, and
Speaker 3: that's intentional. So I think does a president have to
Speaker 3: go out there and earn every vote? Absolutely, does he
Speaker 3: have to break through a measure of historical cynicism that
Speaker 3: oftentimes exists within the African American community during election times,
Speaker 3: one hundred percent. But I think that's work that the
Speaker 3: president is willing to put in in order.
Speaker 1: To ensure a reelection.
Speaker 2: The president questioned whether Donald Trump would pardon the January
Speaker 2: sixth rioters if they had been black, and he said
Speaker 2: a lot more than that governor. He said, Donald Trump
Speaker 2: is the landlord who denies housing applications because of the
Speaker 2: color of people's skin, the guy who will not say
Speaker 2: black lives matter and invokes neo Nazi Third Reich terms.
Speaker 2: He said, Trump is the same guy who unleashed the
Speaker 2: Birtherism lie against Barack Obama. Is this the rhetoric that's
Speaker 2: required here? Is this now the say it out loud campaign?
Speaker 3: You know, I think about the work that's happening right now.
Speaker 3: You know in the state of Maryland, where we're now
Speaker 3: going on nearly twelve straight months of having amongst the
Speaker 3: lowest unemployment rates in the entire country, that we are
Speaker 3: now watching the unemployment rate amongst African Americans at historically
Speaker 3: low levels in our state, that we have now seen
Speaker 3: economic momentum increase. After going five straight years of zero
Speaker 3: point two percent GDP growth, we're now finally watching the
Speaker 3: economic momentum in the state of Maryland that's growing. And
Speaker 3: the thing I know is that the reason that all
Speaker 3: this is happening is because we're moving in partnership with
Speaker 3: the Biden administration. And so I know My pitch to voters,
Speaker 3: my pitch to folks in Maryland and anywhere else that
Speaker 3: I'll go to speak about why this selection matters is
Speaker 3: don't come out and vote because you're afraid of the alternative.
Speaker 3: We know the alternative, we know the records of both
Speaker 3: of these two people. But vote because if you can
Speaker 3: look at what's happened over the past even just year
Speaker 3: and a half in my state, and that's just one example,
Speaker 3: imagine if we can get another four years. And so
Speaker 3: I'm not scared of the alternative. I'm hopeful that another
Speaker 3: four years with the president will be able to bring
Speaker 3: the kind of economic growth that all of us will
Speaker 3: be able to benefit from.
Speaker 4: Well, Governor, that's all at the presidential level. There are
Speaker 4: also down that races in the state of Maryland we
Speaker 4: are watching, including for the Senate. You of course backed
Speaker 4: Angela also Brooks in her Democratic primary campaign against Congressman
Speaker 4: David Trone. She won. She is now up against your predecessor,
Speaker 4: Larry Hogan, who left the governorship with seventy seven percent approval.
Speaker 4: And so, sir, you yourself are a pretty popular governor,
Speaker 4: but that approval is even higher than yours. Can you
Speaker 4: confidently say there is not a risk that Larry Hogan
Speaker 4: can be the one that flips a blue Senate seat red.
Speaker 3: Well, I think there's absolutely a risk, But I think
Speaker 3: it's also why we're taking it seriously, because what the
Speaker 3: real risk is is that the state of Maryland is
Speaker 3: not going to give the Senate majority to the Republicans,
Speaker 3: not in this moment. And I also think this disparity
Speaker 3: in the differences between these two candidates is also very real,
Speaker 3: where you know, we have a kind executive, the person
Speaker 3: I supported very early in this race, and I'm excited
Speaker 3: to support her through the election to the general election,
Speaker 3: where she has a very clear history of being able
Speaker 3: to fight for reproductive health care and reproductive rights. And
Speaker 3: we know that the old governor does not, in fact
Speaker 3: vet oled legislation to support privacy veto legislation to support
Speaker 3: additional protections. I had to on my first day of office,
Speaker 3: I released three and a half million dollars of funds
Speaker 3: that the old governor previously withheld because he did not
Speaker 3: want to release that money due to political reasons. That
Speaker 3: we have a candidate in Angela Alsobrooks, who while she
Speaker 3: was KINT executive, saw a significant drop in violent crime
Speaker 3: in Prince George's county versus you know, the old governor
Speaker 3: saw significant increases in violence and homicides during his time
Speaker 3: as governor.
Speaker 1: So it's going to be an important and spirited race.
Speaker 3: I think the count executive is going to win because
Speaker 3: I think these issues that we are going to see
Speaker 3: people understand that there's a track record that has to
Speaker 3: be examined.
Speaker 2: You've had some good things to say in the past,
Speaker 2: Governor about Larry Hogan. I know you're a gentleman and
Speaker 2: that should not be outside of the realm, but you
Speaker 2: called him a capable leader with a strong record, using
Speaker 2: your words in some of his ads. But I'm also
Speaker 2: taken by what Larry Hogan said about you in a
Speaker 2: conversation with Marilyn Matters. I believe it was shortly after
Speaker 2: you won the governorship. Quote.
Speaker 1: I really like him, he said.
Speaker 2: Seems like a genuinely nice, likable guy who seems to
Speaker 2: really want to make a difference and seems to be
Speaker 2: in it for the right reasons. He said that about you, Governor.
Speaker 2: Are you sure you guys are on opposite sides?
Speaker 3: No, And what I tell people, I don't have a problem,
Speaker 3: you know, with him personally at all. I also know
Speaker 3: that my support of Angela Also Brooks is not because
Speaker 3: of personality. It's because she matches the values not just
Speaker 3: of me, but the values of the state.
Speaker 1: And I know what's on the line.
Speaker 3: I know that having a Republican set a majority is
Speaker 3: on the line. I know that making sure that marylynd
Speaker 3: could be a safe haven for abortion rights is on
Speaker 3: the line. I know making sure that we can actually
Speaker 3: provide supports to make our community safer and more affordable
Speaker 3: is on the line. And I have nothing about to
Speaker 3: say personally about the old governor. I also just know
Speaker 3: that when I think about who I want as a
Speaker 3: partner inside the US Senate, it's Angela Alsobrooks.
Speaker 4: Well, we know, Governor, that there are also some issues
Speaker 4: very specific to Maryland that the state is grappling with,
Speaker 4: including what has kept you occupied for the last two
Speaker 4: months the aftermath of the collapse of the Francis Scott Keybridge.
Speaker 4: The Maryland Chamber of Commerce just released data yesterday that
Speaker 4: said sixty four percent of small businesses in and around
Speaker 4: Baltimore County said they lost revenue due to the collapse.
Speaker 4: Others talked about increased freight costs logistical challenges because of
Speaker 4: the way that things need to be re routed. When
Speaker 4: can you confidently tell those businesses, these individuals affected, that
Speaker 4: things will be back to normal.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I can't overstate not just the importance of the Port
Speaker 3: of Baltimore, not just to the region and to Baltimore
Speaker 3: into Maryland, but to the entire country. Two thirds of
Speaker 3: this country gets their goods from the Port of Baltimore.
Speaker 3: But what we saw just state weeks ago, when we
Speaker 3: had a ship that was the size of three football
Speaker 3: fields sitting and caught in the middle of the Tapsco
Speaker 3: River with four thousand tons of steel sitting on top
Speaker 3: of it, and the remainder of the key bridge at
Speaker 3: the bottom of the river, with six people unaccounted for.
Speaker 3: This was a tragedy that we had not seen in
Speaker 3: our state in generations. And I'm so proud of the
Speaker 3: way that this state has mobilized and the speed. In
Speaker 3: addition to being able to return all of the remains
Speaker 3: to the individuals and to the families who lost people,
Speaker 3: we are now days away from being able to have
Speaker 3: the full Federal channel seven hundred feet by fifty foot
Speaker 3: depth reopened, and to be able to have the Port
Speaker 3: of Baltimore coming back again. We saw during the month
Speaker 3: of April where there was a real concern about where
Speaker 3: unemployment rate for the state of Maryland was going to
Speaker 3: go for the month of April, and we're proud that
Speaker 3: because we were able to work with the private sector,
Speaker 3: work with our partner and all of our port partners,
Speaker 3: that not only for the month of April, has Maryland
Speaker 3: continued to have amongst the lowest unemployment rates in the
Speaker 3: entire country. We actually gained thousands of jobs during that
Speaker 3: same time period and watch labor participation actually increase during
Speaker 3: the month of April. So I could not be more
Speaker 3: proud of the response of this state. We've got a
Speaker 3: long road to go and I will not stop until
Speaker 3: we have a new bridge, a new Francis Scott Key
Speaker 3: Bridge built and overlooking the skyline in Baltimore. But the
Speaker 3: speed of this recovery really has been a marvel, and
Speaker 3: it's really been because we've had a coordinated effort in
Speaker 3: getting it done well.
Speaker 2: You do have a lot to be proud of, Governor,
Speaker 2: and the heroic actions of the public safety officials in
Speaker 2: Baltimore and the state of Maryland, including the divers who
Speaker 2: have been risking their lives to comb the bottom of
Speaker 2: the floor of the remarkable stories to tell. But then
Speaker 2: it becomes a question about money. And we've talked about
Speaker 2: this before on Bloomberg. In fact, we had a conversation
Speaker 2: earlier with Republican Congressman Patrick McHenry Shares the House Financial
Speaker 2: Services Committee, and we asked them directly about the chances
Speaker 2: for a supplemental budget to rebuild the bridge passing this Congress,
Speaker 2: and he talked about offsets that would be needed, other
Speaker 2: budget cuts, suggesting that we're spending too much. What are
Speaker 2: you hearing from leaders in the House about that making
Speaker 2: that happen to rebuild the bridge.
Speaker 3: You know, I've been incredibly encouraged by the amount of
Speaker 3: bipartisan support that we've received, you know, people from from
Speaker 3: not just the Democratic side of the House, but also
Speaker 3: people from Chair Womack and Chair Hole from Oklahoma and
Speaker 3: from Arkansas and Oklahoma respectively, people who have said, we
Speaker 3: understand the importance of getting this bridge rebuilt because it's
Speaker 3: a core artery for the Port of Baltimore, which.
Speaker 1: Is indispensable to the American economy.
Speaker 3: And what we're asking for the one hundred percent cost
Speaker 3: share is just not saying all the American people are
Speaker 3: going to pay for I'm very confident that the American
Speaker 3: people will be made whole when you look at everything
Speaker 3: from insurance to potential pending litigation. Lloyd's of London has
Speaker 3: indicated this is going to be the most expensive maritime
Speaker 3: tragedy in our nation's history. So the American people will
Speaker 3: be made whole. The reason our ask for the one
Speaker 3: hundred percent cost share is essentially it's essentially bridge financing.
Speaker 3: It's saying that while we're going through the process of
Speaker 3: a potential litigation, which we know could take years, we've
Speaker 3: got to get moving. We've got to get building because
Speaker 3: my commitment to the people of my state and the
Speaker 3: people of this country, frankly, is that we are going
Speaker 3: to build this thing on time and on budget and effectively,
Speaker 3: and we're going to get the Port of Baltimore going
Speaker 3: again because it's important to the largest supply chain of
Speaker 3: our nation.
Speaker 1: But we've got to get moving.
Speaker 3: That's the importance of the bipartisan support for the one
Speaker 3: hundred percent cost share, and we've been incredibly heartened by
Speaker 3: the amount of by the encouraging words and supports that
Speaker 3: we've received from members from both sides of the Aisle
Speaker 3: on this issue.
Speaker 2: Merrily, Governor Wes Moore on a special edition of the
Speaker 2: Balance of Power podcast alongside Kaylee Lines, I'm Joe Matthew
Speaker 2: in Washington. This is Blue Bomberg. Thanks for listening to
Speaker 2: the Balance of Power podcast. Make sure to subscribe if
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