Wes Moore

What's also happened is we've increased our math and reading scores in every single grade inside of the state of Maryland.

What's also happened is we have the fastest drops in violent crime anywhere

in the United States of America here in the state of Maryland.

What's also happened is that we have one of the fastest job growth rates in the entire country.

In the state of Maryland, we've gone from 43rd in the country in unemployment to now having an unemployment rate that is systemically lower than the national average, that we've added nearly 100,000 new jobs since I've been the governor and 35,000 new businesses

have been added to the state of Maryland since I've been the governor.

So I think what we've been able to show is that you can be fiscally disciplined, but also be very smart about what you're investing in.

And I think one of the things that you have to invest in, you've got to invest in education and you've got to invest in public education and you've got to invest in your community colleges, the places where the vast majority of our students are getting their educational pathways, because that's also what makes a certain jurisdiction very attractive to business and economic growth.

Are you on the same page as Elon Musk?

Well, we do have a lot of agreement.

And ironically, I ran one of the largest poverty-fighting organizations in this country before I ran for governor.

I don't come from a political background or a political world or a political family.

This is the first office I've ran for my life.

And before I ran this, I ran something called the Robin Hood Foundation.

And I remember when they first approached me about it, I told them that I'm not sure if I'm the right person for this job to be the CEO because I'm naturally skeptical of philanthropy.

Where I oftentimes feel like philanthropy, you know, philanthropy for many places is almost like philanthropy for philanthropists.

Like they give away money because it makes them feel better, but they're not actually helping to address the problem.

Because if you're not addressing policy and if you're not addressing some of these lawmakers that are making really bad decisions, then you're not actually interested in solving the problem.

You're just simply asking yourself to clean up the debris that comes from broken systems.

And so I think that philanthropy has an obligation.