interview: Maryland Gov. Wes Moore

[0:00] Well, Governor, thank you for joining us. We appreciate it. We're meeting amid an ongoing war [0:04] that is having a bit of an effect on the economy. Rising gas prices, inflation keeps creeping up. [0:11] It was a decent jobs report on Friday, but mortgage rates are climbing and mortgage [0:15] applications are down. You observe this as a governor, and you know that residents in your [0:22] state are feeling the economic pinch. What can you do as a governor to address all this? [0:26] Well, we are feeling it. And it is true that, you know, a governor does not control the fact that [0:33] energy prices have spiked over the past year. You know, my mom's energy bill in March of last year [0:41] was $140. It's now creeping close to $500. Governors don't have full control over that. [0:48] Governors can't control the fact that gas prices have gone up now over a dollar because we decided [0:54] to enter into another war of choice. [0:56] That governors cannot control the fact that we are continuing to watch homes become more [1:03] difficult and more expensive. But the thing we can do as governors is we can make sure that even [1:09] though I don't control the price of food, that I can make sure that we're not doing price [1:13] manipulation and that these big corporations aren't gouging our customers as we're doing here [1:18] in the state of Maryland. You know, that I can make sure that even though we are watching energy [1:22] prices rise, that we can hold these data center companies accountable and [1:26] also making sure we're giving a rebate and giving something back to the people of the state of Maryland, [1:31] which we're doing here. [1:32] Even your approval rating appears to have taken a hit in recent days, at least in one survey. [1:36] And among those who disapproved, they cited raising taxes and fees. [1:40] There's been some conversation in this state, at least, about possibly waiving the gas tax for a little while. [1:45] It is one of the higher ones in the country. You say governors can't do much about the gas price. [1:50] You could conceivably establish a gas price holiday, no? [1:53] Yeah. I mean, the best thing that we could do to be able to address [1:57] gas prices is by stop fighting foreign wars and stop watching gas prices jump up over a dollar. [2:04] So you agree with the president's theory that it'll go back down once the war is over? [2:08] No, I disagree, because I think the president still does not have a full articulation as to why gas prices [2:14] are going up in the first place or what's going to be necessary or required to be able to bring them down. [2:18] You know, I think about what we've done here in Maryland to address that, where we've actually given [2:22] the middle class in Maryland a tax cut, because I do believe that we need to give the middle [2:27] class a little bit of extra relief now. And we ask the wealthiest of Marylanders to be able to invest [2:32] a little bit more so we can do things like having the rising, you know, increases in reading and math scores [2:39] like we're seeing in Maryland, and the fact that Maryland now has amongst the fastest drops in violent crime [2:43] anywhere in the United States of America. And we ask the wealthiest of Marylanders to be able to do more [2:48] to participate in that. [2:49] So gas tax holidays off the table, then, in your view? [2:51] Yeah. I think we need to stop fighting these forever wars. [2:57] I think about the fact that we are, we are very dangerously, we're lurching again into another forever war. [3:05] And this is a forever war that is very similar to the one that I fought in, where I led soldiers with the 82nd Airborne Division [3:13] in Afghanistan. And I know that the United States was in Afghanistan for 20 years, that it cost this country over [3:21] two and a half trillion dollars, that we lost over 2,400 American lives, and we did it because [3:30] we said we wanted to change the Taliban. And 20 years later, you know who's in charge of Afghanistan? [3:36] The Taliban. And so I feel like we are lurching into another one of these forever wars that we're asking the American people [3:44] to pay for, but we have still, but the President of the United States and the Commander-in-Chief has still yet to articulate [3:50] what exactly it is that we're doing. [3:51] As we meet here, there are search and rescue operations underway now inside Iran, because a U.S. fighter jet has been shot down. [4:00] In recent days, the President suggested [4:02] that this operation will be done in two to three weeks. That doesn't seem to sit with you. [4:07] This is sitting horribly with me, because I'm thinking about these families. [4:11] I'm thinking about the families of our service members who right now, who are afraid to pick up the phone, [4:15] because they're afraid to hear what is on the other end of the line. [4:20] That we had a President of the United States talk about the military success that we have seen thus far, [4:29] while still acknowledging, without acknowledging the fact of the long road ahead, and no one understands or can or has been [4:36] able to articulate to us what exactly it is that we are doing or what success looks like. [4:40] And so I'm praying for these families, but also what I'm praying for is some clarity from the White House. [4:48] You're giving three commencement addresses this season to members of the Class of 2026, [4:53] and one of them is at the military prep school that you attended. [4:57] A bunch of those students may be heading into the services right away. [5:00] What would be your message to them? [5:04] I'm so proud of the fact that I'm going to give [5:08] a commencement at a school that helped to save my life. [5:11] You know, I got sent there, because people always say, why did you choose to go to military school? [5:16] I say, no one chooses to go to military school. [5:18] I was sent because I was angry, because I was frustrated, because I had a difficult childhood. [5:28] And that place helped to save my life. [5:30] And I'm proud to go back and talk to these cadets. [5:34] I also know that there will be some of those cadets who will then choose to join the military. [5:37] And what I'm going to tell them is I'm proud of them. [5:42] I'm proud of them for choosing a life of service. [5:44] I'm proud of them for being able to fight for our country and fight for our democracy. [5:52] But I am also praying for them, and I'm praying for the leadership of this country, [5:57] that they will make decisions with them and their families in mind, [6:02] and not just simply make decisions that I think have been just wrongheaded and foolish on their face. [6:10] Part of the reason I wanted to speak with you is in another recent interview, [6:14] you floated a theory of what the next president is going to have to figure out [6:18] and how to organize what President Trump has done in, as you said, into five distinct buckets. [6:24] What's broken and irreparable, what's broken and can be fixed, [6:28] what's broken and needs to be fixed differently, what survives but needs to be broken, [6:34] and what survives and needs to be sustained. [6:36] You've given this some thought. [6:37] So I wanted to walk you through some specific things and sort of wonder what buckets they would fall into. [6:43] OK. [6:44] Where would you put Iran? [6:45] OK. [6:46] Where would you put Iran? [6:46] Well, I would actually put Iran into a larger bucket, and that is how we... [6:52] The sixth bucket. [6:52] Well, how we think about foreign wars. [6:54] OK. [6:55] Right? [6:55] Because, you know, I think about Donald Trump ran, making three promises, right? [7:01] That he was going to bring prices down, that he was going to release the Epstein files, [7:06] and that he was not going to get us involved in foreign wars. [7:09] And the American people voted for that. [7:12] And it's strike one, strike two, strike three, because on each and every one of those things that he promised, [7:19] he did not make happen. [7:21] And so when I talk about how the United States military can and should be used, [7:26] as someone who has served, as someone who has fought for this country, [7:29] I know there are times when the United States military, the world's greatest military, [7:35] can and should be used. [7:36] And let's be clear, let's not confuse military success with the United States military with strategic success. [7:43] So thinking ahead, Iran, is it broken and irreparable? [7:47] Does it survive and need to be sustained? [7:49] Is it broken? [7:50] Does it need to be fixed differently, the relationship with Iran? [7:53] I think that the relationship with Iran right now is not just broken, [8:03] but I'm not sure if there's been an articulation of what the path forward is. [8:07] And when we're talking about Iran, you're not just talking about the relationship with Iran. [8:12] You're talking about Iran's relationship with other countries. [8:14] You're talking about a larger foreign policy, you know, complication. [8:18] And by the way, we have decided to start this [8:21] war when we're also doing two separate things, [8:23] that we've essentially obliterated what we have in terms of our soft power, [8:27] USAID, how America does its foreign aid, [8:30] and we're doing it while the Department of Homeland Security, [8:33] whose job it is to keep the homeland safe, is shut down. [8:36] So this is the, frankly, just the foolishness [8:42] in the way that we're approaching issues of war and peace [8:45] that I think we've got to be able to address. [8:47] What bucket would you put the U.S.'s relationship with Israel in? [8:51] Well, I think... [8:52] The U.S. relationship with Israel is an important relationship. [8:56] But I think with any important relationship, there needs to be accountability. [9:00] You know, I look at the fact that we're fighting this war in Iran, [9:05] and one of the things that... [9:07] There's three things you always hope for as a soldier, right? [9:09] That war should always be the last resort, [9:13] that the second piece should always be that you are clear about your mission [9:17] and clear about your endgame, [9:18] and the third is that you've built an international coalition. [9:21] We haven't done any of those things with this war. [9:23] I think that's another thing that we need to be careful about. [9:26] But I think that's another thing that we really need to be careful about. [9:28] The U.S. has never really understood the scale of the war [9:32] that we are waging in Iran. [9:34] In the midst of all this, the president in recent days [9:37] told a gathering at the White House that in his view, [9:40] because of the 50 states, quote, [9:42] it's not possible for us to take care of daycare, Medicaid, Medicare, [9:45] all these individual things. [9:47] He argues the federal government shouldn't have to pay for those programs [9:51] because, quote, we have to take care of one thing, military protection. [9:55] That's nonsense. [9:56] A MEDICAID AND MEDICARE DAYCARE WITHOUT FEDERAL ASSISTANCE? [9:59] SO MANY OF THE DECISIONS THAT THIS WHITE HOUSE IS MAKING, THEY [10:02] ARE MAKING WITH A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING THAT NO STATE HAS [10:06] A BUDGET TO SAY, OKAY, WELL, WE'LL JUST TAKE ON HEALTH CARE [10:08] OR WE'LL JUST TAKE ON FOOD AND SECURITY. [10:12] WE SAW THAT HAPPEN LAST YEAR WHEN THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED [10:14] STATES BROKE THE LAW IN ORDER TO CUT SNAP. [10:17] IN FACT, WE SUED THEM AND WE WON AND WE BEAT HIM IN COURT ON [10:21] THIS. [10:22] SOUNDS LIKE HE'S GOING TO TRY AGAIN. [10:23] HE DID TRY AGAIN. [10:24] HE TRIED TO APPEAL THE FACT THROUGH A TEMPER TANTRUM [10:26] BECAUSE THE JUDGES TOLD HIM, ACTUALLY, NO, YOU NEED TO PAY [10:29] FOR FOOD ASSISTANCE FOR PEOPLE. [10:31] AND WHAT WE ENDED UP DOING IS IN MARYLAND, I ACTUALLY TOOK $63 [10:35] MILLION OUT OF OUR FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY FUND, WHICH IS A [10:37] FUND THAT IS MADE UP OF CAPITAL GAINS TAXES, AND I SAID, I'M NOT [10:41] GOING TO LET THE PEOPLE OF MY STATE GO HUNGRY BECAUSE [10:45] WASHINGTON IS THROWING A HAVING A FOOD FIGHT. [10:48] AND SO WE MADE SURE THAT SNAP AND SNAP BENEFITS WERE NOT GOING TO [10:51] BE CUT FOR THE PEOPLE OF MARYLAND, BUT IT IS A DEEPLY [10:53] UNFAIR ASK TO ASK STATES AND OR GOVERNORS, BECAUSE WE DO THINGS [10:58] THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS NEVER DONE. [10:59] WE ACTUALLY BALANCE OUR BUDGETS, AND IT IS AN UNFAIR ASK TO ASK [11:02] US TO TAKE ON WHAT SHOULD BE A JOINT RESPONSIBILITY BECAUSE THE [11:05] FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS DECIDED TO STOP DOING ITS JOB. [11:08] WE HAVE TO LEAVE IT THERE, GOVERNOR, BUT THANK YOU FOR [11:10] TAKING THE TIME. [11:11] HAPPY EASTER. [11:12] HAPPY EASTER.