Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD) called on white America to look at President Donald Trump’s actions when asked by CNN host Kasie Hunt if the president’s attacks on him are “about race.”

KASIE HUNT: I actually just heard from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, who was asked about the sewage crisis that the Potomac River here in our local jurisdiction is facing. Now, this is just one of many things they’ve taken you on about, but I do want to show you what she had to say. We’ll talk about it on the other side. Take a look. KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The next step in this process is for any of the three local jurisdictions involved, whether that’s the Commonwealth of Virginia, the state of Maryland and Governor Moore, or the District of Columbia, to step forward and to ask the federal government for help and to ask for the Stafford Act to be implemented here so that the federal government can go and take control of this local infrastructure that has been abandoned and neglected by Governor Moore in Maryland for far too long. There has been no improvement under the leadership of Governor Moore. He’s clearly shown he’s incapable of fixing this problem, which is why President Trump and the federal government are standing by to step in. HUNT: Governor, what’s your response? GOV. WES MOORE (D-MD): I mean, what she says is laughable, and it continues to remind me that this is not a serious team that we’re working with. We’re talking about a D.C. pipe on federal land, right? The area that we’re talking about, that has been under federal control for the past century. And so any indication or any insinuation that somehow this is a Maryland issue or a Virginia issue is ridiculous. This is a D.C. pipe on federal land. The only difference is the reason that I ordered our team to be able to support Washington, D.C. in their effort on the cleanup was, one, I did not want contagion that would impact the people of Maryland. And second, I believe in actually helping our neighbors. And when our neighbors needed help, I instructed our team to assist them and help them. And this is in January, we started this process that for now the past week, there is no overflow that is taking place from that jurisdiction. And now, now the White House wants to get involved, even though I was doing, we were doing their job for the past month. And so if the president wants me to ask nicely, here’s my nice ask of the president. Mr. President, please do your job. HUNT: Fair enough. So speaking of the president, he, of course, invites or traditionally the White House invites governors here for the National Governors Association, which is part of why you’re here this week to the White House for dinner. And an invitation was not extended to you, although I understand there’s been a little bit of lack of clarity on whether that’s actually the case. But now other Democratic governors are also saying that they might not attend. Governor Beshear, one of them, if you’re not extended an invitation, would you like to see all of your Democratic governors join you in refusing to attend the dinner if you’re not invited? MOORE: Well, I’m not casting judgment on any governor that chooses to attend. For any governor, if they choose to attend the dinner, that is their prerogative. I will not. And I also know it’s because the president of the United States does not get to turn to get to determine what my worthiness is. The reason I’m a member of the National Governors Association is because the people of Maryland elected me with a historic margin of victory and historic number of individual votes to make me the governor of Maryland, not the president. The reason I’m the vice chair of the National Governors Association is because both Democratic and Republican governors voted for me to help lead the organization, not the president. And so I will not cast judgment on anyone else’s decision. But my decision is very clear. If this is not going to be a serious gathering where we can talk about issues, where we can address the fact that everything is more expensive under the president, if we can address the fact that why he is spending his time giving tax cuts to his friends while making life more expensive on everyone else, if that’s not the intent, then I have no desire of actually sitting down. HUNT: Do you think his lack of extension of an invitation to you, is the president motivated by race? MOORE: You know, honestly, I think that’s a real question for President Trump. You know, what I know is and what I’ve shown is I will work with anybody. Just a couple weeks ago, you know, I led a delegation of Democratic and Republican governors. We all went to the White House and we were urging PJM, our regional grid operator, to be able to cap their prices for two years. And they have come back and didn’t cap for two years. They capped it for the rest of the decade. And so we have shown an ability and a very clear instinct to be able to work across the line. In the state of Maryland, 97 percent of the bills that I’ve introduced that have gotten passed have been passed bipartisan. So I work with Democrats, Republicans. HUNT: What’s it about for the president if it’s not about race? MOORE: I think the president just seems to have a very real issue with the fact that I do not bow to him, and I will stand up to him because I will always defend my people. But but, you know, the fact that I’m the only black governor in this country and the fact that he seems to have a real issue with me, I think that’s that’s that’s an issue he’s got to take up. HUNT: Do you think the president is racist? He did post an A.I. image of Barack and Michelle Obama, former President Obama, as an ape. MOORE: Yeah, well, I mean, he also has spent the past year making a direct assault on scholarships for HBCUs, that the past year we have seen the greatest assault on unemployment for black women that our country has ever seen, that he’s spending his time attacking history and banning books. I, you know, I honestly think that, you know, it’s it’s it’s a question not just for the president, but frankly, I think it’s also a question for white America if they are looking at his actions. And and I think that’s something that people need to wrestle with.

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