Maryland Gov. Wes Moore says he's not running for president in 2028

BALTIMORE, MD. - During an appearance on NBC News' "Meet the Press" on Sunday, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said he's ruling out running for president in 2028, after months of speculation. 

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Moderator Kristen Welker asked him whether he planned to run directly, to which the Democrat responded twice: "Yeah, I'm not running for president." He reiterated the sentiment again when Welker asked a third time to confirm. Instead, he emphasized his interest in serving another term as Maryland's governor. 

"I’m so excited by what we’re doing, that we’ve gone from 43rd in the country in unemployment to now one of the lowest unemployment rates," he said. "We’ve had among the fastest drops in violent crime anywhere in the United States of America, our population is growing, Maryland is moving, and so I’m really excited about going back in front of the people in my state and asking for another term."

'A series of ignorant tropes'

What they're saying:

The governor has made headlines in recent weeks for publicly sparring with President Donald Trump after he threatened to deploy the National Guard in Baltimore. Trump has called the city "one of the most unsafe places anywhere in the world."

Both Moore and Brandon Scott, Baltimore's mayor, pushed back against that statement, noting that the city's homicide rate is down to the lowest it's been in half a century. Moore told the NYTimes last month that those figures don't align with Trump's narrative. 

"This is just a series of ignorant tropes that he continues to lay out," he said.

Moore even invited Trump to go on a walk through the streets of Baltimore, to which the president responded by telling the governor to "stop talking and get to work." Moore then responded by saying that the president would "do anything to get out of walking—even if that means spouting off more lies about the progress we’re making on public safety in Maryland."

Trump also called Baltimore a "horrible deathbed" and a "hellhole," and has said that Gov. Moore "doesn't have what it takes" to be president. 

"It’s interesting the President seems to be more concerned about my future than he is about the future of the American people," Moore said in response. 

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