ICYMI: Maryland governor urges U.S. to move past politics, 'get serious' on violence

Editor's note: This article was inadvertently omitted from an early edition of the Wire on Friday. It is being republished for readers who may have missed it.

 

Maryland Governor Wes Moore (D) told a National Press Club Luncheon Thursday that the United States needs to move beyond rhetoric and sensationalism if it hopes to make progress on public safety.

“We know that since the 1990s, incidents of violent crime have gone down across America … but today the fear of violence seems more widespread than ever before,” Moore said. “We cannot truly address the reality of violence unless we simultaneously deal with the false narratives of violence.”

Noting that the country is gearing up for a heated election season, Moore singled out politicians who stoke fear around violent crime while on the campaign trail.

“Candidates are continuing to lean into violence to scare people into supporting them,” Moore said. “The truth is, these candidates don’t have a plan. What they have is a playbook.”

Moore’s remarks come just weeks after Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida, told a New Hampshire audience that Baltimore students “have a better chance of getting shot than getting a first-class education.”

“There are a few problems with that,” Moore said Thursday. “The claim is just not true, and it's those kinds of comments that dishonor the pride, the courage, and the promise of the people that actually live in our cities.”

“And trust me, nobody wants to address violent crime more than the people that actually live in the community suffering from the violence,” he added.

Beyond those vying for office, Moore argued that the media is also culpable in exaggerating violent crime. 

“There are those in the press who build entire business models designed to sensationalize tragedy and violence,” Moore said. “When truth and integrity give way to ratings and readership and click bait, some press boardrooms are deciding that playing into fear is good for business.”

“We need to be serious and we need to depoliticize this and we need to work together," he said. "And until we stop this political blame game while people die, we are never going to make progress.”

Moore, who was elected in November as Maryland’s first Black governor, has made public safety the centerpiece of his gubernatorial agenda. To that end, Moore has touted a number of achievements within his first hundred days that he claims will support that effort, including raising the minimum wage to $15 dollars an hour, securing over $8 billion in public school funding and signing a series of bills that will tighten gun laws.

While Moore’s status as a rising star within the Democratic party has resulted in chatter about his future political ambitions, he has declined to enter the race to fill the Senate seat held by outgoing lawmaker Ben Cardin. 

While he has kept a hands-off approach to the emerging race so far, he said Thursday that he is prepared to use the bully pulpit if necessary.

“I’m going to be staying close and paying very close attention. I want this to be a race that is going to be substance based. I want this race to be issue oriented, and I want this to be a race that's positive,” Moore said. “And if I see any inclinations that is not going in that direction, I will step in and quickly.”