Maryland governor says Dems must earn support of Black voters as Trump sees surge in polls: 'Not monolithic'

AUSTIN, Texas - Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has a message for fellow Democrats as polls show one of their most loyal voting blocs is increasingly rallying behind former President Trump. 

Trump has seen increased support among Black voters since he ran in 2016. A recent New York Times/Siena poll, for example, shows Trump earning 17% support from that voting bloc, a 10-point increase from its poll taken in September 2020. 

In an interview with Fox News Digital at the 2024 Texas Tribune Festival, Moore was asked about Trump's inroads with Black voters and whether Vice President Kamala Harris and Democrats broadly should be concerned.

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"I think you got to go earn support from every voter. And I think that is especially true amongst Black voters," Moore told Fox News Digital. "Black voters and in our groups are not monolithic. They're not going to go with a person because of their political affiliation. They're not gonna go with somebody because of what they look like. You got to go earn their support. And I think it becomes really important that we stress on issues of importance to members of the Black community when you're talking about things like access to work and wages and wealth."

Moore touted Harris' "opportunity economy" proposals as something that could win over Black voters and insisted that both she and her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz are engaging directly with Black communities in order to earn their support. 

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While he refrained from answering why he thought Trump was increasingly appealing to Black voters, Moore suggested the focus isn't necessarily on whether certain voters switch parties but rather whether they choose to go out and vote or stay home. 

"I do think it's really important that the way we're engaging voters is not taking voters for granted," Moore said. "I think you have a lot of voters who right now are up for grabs… This election will be determined by not necessarily where people go when it comes to Democrat to Republican or Republican to Democrat. This election will be determined by those who choose to vote and those who choose not to. And that's why I think there's a lot of work to be done."

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Moore, widely seen as a rising star in the Democratic Party, was also asked about how he views masculinity, a topic that has dominated the media's coverage of the 2024 race and how both the Trump-Vance ticket and the Harris-Walz ticket appeal to male voters. 

"I’m deeply proud of the person that I am. Yes, I am a person who enjoys shotgunning beers before football games, watching sports and playing football," Moore told Fox News Digital. "I am a person who is also deeply supportive of supporting growth of women in elected leadership. I don’t think that we put ourselves in boxes in these things."

Moore, a passionate Baltimore Ravens fan, played college football at Johns Hopkins University, where he was a star wide receiver who averaged 25.2 yards per reception as a senior. He’s also a U.S. Army veteran who was deployed to Afghanistan as a lieutenant. 

As traditionally masculine as his credentials may be, the governor believes men shouldn't be pigeonholed.

"As we are thinking about ways to support our young boys, as they’re growing into men, I think it’s important that we do not dehumanize their growth, or emasculate their growth," Moore said. "Being able to say, ‘We support women in leadership roles,’ does not make us any less manly. Women saying, ‘We support men in roles,’ does not make them any less womanly." 

"That should be enough … to be who you are, and that’s how you should be supported," Moore added.

Fox News' Brian Flood contributed to this report.