Let me break this down for you like I’m talking to my 3-year-old cousin, Scotty—because apparently that’s how Governor Wes Moore thinks Black men need to be talked to.
So there’s Governor Wes “Hope & Hypocrisy” Moore on his podcast At Our Table (which sounds like it should be about Thanksgiving, not politics), giving us a TED Talk in Demsplaining 101—trying to unpack why more and more Black men are ghosting the Democratic Party like it’s a bad Hinge date.
Spoiler alert, Wes: It’s not because we forgot how to read your campaign flyers. It’s because you and your party stopped showing up—and when you do, you’re too busy lecturing to actually listen.
In the latest episode, Wes sits down with former DNC chair Jaime “Still Not Chair” Harrison, and it’s like a sad therapy session for political consultants who can’t figure out why the vibes are off.
Wes moans, “We just stopped competing. We stopped making the case.”
Translation: We assumed Black men were on autopilot and would keep voting for us no matter what, and now we’re shocked Pikachu face when they don’t.
He adds, “We came up with this philosophy where, listen, it all comes down to three states.”
Buddy, that might be your strategy, but to us it sounds like, “Don’t bother, y’all don’t matter.” And then you still expect us to show up with pom-poms and a ‘Vote Blue No Matter Who’ T-shirt.
And can we talk about Wes’s word salad when asked what Kamala Harris could’ve done differently in 2024?
His answer was basically: “I don’t know, man… like, vibes were bad, it’s hard out there for a VP, and maybe she just needed to believe in herself harder?”
Cool, very insightful. Maybe next week you can interview a Magic 8 Ball.
But then Wes drops this gem:
“This is not game theory. This is not checkers. These are real lives.”
Right. Real lives. Real lives of Black men you guys locked up with Biden’s 1994 crime bill. Real lives that got crushed by COVID lockdowns while Gavin Newsom went to the French Laundry. Real lives being taxed, regulated, and silenced by the same people who say they’re “fighting for us.”
And then comes the mopey realization:
“Yo, what happened to the party?”
I’ll tell you what happened, Wes. You treated us like a monolith. You offered identity politics instead of opportunity. You pushed equity over excellence. And when people started asking questions, you gave them talking points, not answers.
Even your boy Governor Tim Walz jumped in with some moment of clarity:
“Why do we come off like we’re against success?”
Because you are! You say you want everyone to succeed, but when someone does—especially if they didn’t get there by government grant—you call them greedy. You tell them they’re part of the problem.
This whole podcast was like watching a political auto shop trying to fix a busted car with duct tape and vibes.
So to recap:
- Black men are leaving because they’re not dumb.
- The Dems keep talking at people, not to them.
- Wes Moore is running a self-help podcast instead of a state.
- And the Democratic Party is in a relationship with voters it doesn’t even bother texting back.
Wes, maybe instead of asking, “What happened to the party?”
You should be asking, “Why did we assume we never had to earn your vote in the first place?”
And no, nobody’s buying your “I’m not thinking about 2028” line. We all saw you blink Morse code at Bret Baier.
But by all means, keep Demsplaining. Every time you do, another voter wakes up.
Endnotes
- Moore on Dems giving up on voters:
Governor Wes Moore stated on his podcast At Our Table that Democrats “seemingly just gave up” on certain communities and stopped competing, focusing instead on only three battleground states.
— Fox News, July 2025
[Source: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/wes-moore-dems-gave-up-competing-parts-country-2024-election] - Wes Moore on Kamala Harris’ 2024 struggles:
When asked by Jaime Harrison if VP Harris could have done anything differently in the 2024 election, Moore responded: “I don’t know,” and went on to say the mood of the country made things difficult for her.
— Fox News, July 2025
[Source: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/wes-moore-dems-gave-up-competing-parts-country-2024-election] - Jaime Harrison and Moore agree Democrats “ceded ground”:
Harrison concurred with Moore’s claim that Democrats gave up too much ground by ignoring voters in most states, saying, “We cede ground,” during their podcast discussion.
— At Our Table Podcast, July 2025 - Moore says voters felt “taken for granted”:
Moore emphasized that key Democratic voting blocs—particularly Black men—felt ignored, asking rhetorically, “Yo, what happened to the party?” and calling for a “real level setting” on who Democrats are fighting for.
— At Our Table Podcast, July 2025 - Moore says politics is “not checkers”:
Moore framed the 2024 loss as a serious issue, stating, “This is not game theory. This is not checkers. These are real lives.”
— At Our Table Podcast, July 2025 - Moore on 2028 presidential ambitions:
When asked by Bret Baier about a potential 2028 presidential run, Moore dismissed the idea, saying anyone talking about 2028 isn’t taking 2025 seriously.
— Fox News Sunday, July 2025 - Tim Walz critiques Dems as anti-success:
In a separate interview with Jaime Harrison, Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) expressed concern that Democrats are perceived as being against business success and entrepreneurship.
— At Our Table Podcast, July 2025 - Black voter defection data:
Polling from the 2024 election cycle showed a notable increase in support among Black men for GOP candidates, particularly in states like Georgia, North Carolina, and Michigan.
— Pew Research Center & CNN Exit Polls, November 2024 - Crime Bill legacy impact on Black men:
The 1994 Crime Bill, authored in part by then-Senator Joe Biden, has been criticized for contributing to mass incarceration, particularly affecting Black men—an issue that remains politically toxic.
— The Marshall Project, “The Legacy of the 1994 Crime Bill,” April 2020 - COVID lockdown disparities:
Studies have shown that COVID lockdown policies disproportionately harmed minority-owned businesses and urban communities.
— Brookings Institution, “The Impact of COVID-19 on Minority Communities,” June 2021
Ian Schwartz is a contributor for Direct Line News. He can be reached at ian.schwartz@mcgopclub.com
Direct Line News is a Maryland-based free-access publication committed to the Republican reform tradition.
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